New tech

HotRod

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190514081554.htm

Physicists are pushing the performance of solar cells to levels never before reached. They have made a significant breakthrough in the chemical formula and process to make a new material. The ultra-high efficiency material called a tandem perovskite solar cell is being developed to help solve the world energy crisis.

HotRod

https://phys.org/news/2019-05-scientific-puzzle-solar-panel-efficiency.amp

Most of the world's solar power is currently produced by solar panels – also known as photovoltaic panels – that are made of silicon.

Recently, new solar panels have been created that are made from a semiconducting material called cadmium telluride (CdTe).

CdTe panels have been found to produce electricity at lower costs than silicon panels and there has been a dramatic gain in efficiency brought about by adding an element called selenium to the cadmium telluride.

As a result, electricity from CdTe solar farms is being produced more cheaply than it is from fossil fuels giving economic as well as environmental benefits around the world.

Until now, it was not well understood why selenium increases efficiency but thanks to Tom Fiducia, a Ph.D. Research Student in the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), and an international team of researchers, the puzzle has been solved.

HotRod

diamond batteries.

https://phys.org/news/2018-06-prototype-nuclear-battery-power.html

HotRod

https://www.prescouter.com/2018/04/meet-inventor-nuclear-waste-powered/