Theoretical research by Berkeley Lab scientists has led to record-breaking efficiencies in solar cells. The research showed that, contrary to conventional scientific wisdom, the key to solar cell efficiency is not absorbing more photons but emitting more photons.

The installed cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2010 and into the first half of 2011, according to the latest edition of an annual PV cost tracking report released by Berkeley Lab.

Berkeley Lab researchers have developed a solution-based technique for fabricating core/shell nanowire solar cells using the semiconductors cadmium sulfide for the core and copper sulfide for the shell. These inexpensive and easy-to-make nanowire solar cells hold great promise for future solar cell technology.

Using the TEAM 0.5 microscope, Berkeley Lab researchers recorded the first direct observation of structural transformations within a single nanocrystal of copper sulfide. The results break new ground for the design of novel materials that will serve next-generation energy storage batteries and solar energy harvesting devices.

The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) is a DOE Energy Innovation Hub being funded by up to $122 million over five years to develop a solar-fuel technology modeled off plant photosynthesis. JCAP-North, one of JCAP’s two California-based facilities, is now open. JCAP-North is operated by Berkeley Lab.

New research by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds strong evidence that homes with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems sell for a premium over homes without solar systems. The Berkeley Lab research is the first to empirically explore the existence and magnitude of residential PV sales price impacts across a large number of homes and over a wide geographic area.

Berkeley Lab has long pioneered new materials and new methods for making solar cells that can convert the full spectrum of sunlight to electrical energy. Now Berkeley Lab researchers and their colleagues have demonstrated a new solar cell design that not only captures the sun’s full spectrum, it is also practical to make using common manufacturing techniques in the semiconductor industry.

Berkeley researchers have developed a solution-based method for inducing polymer membranes with molecular-sized channels to assemble themselves. Fully compatible with commercial membrane-fabrication, this new technique is believed to be the first example of organic nanotubes fabricated into a functional membrane over macroscopic distances.

Berkeley Lab researchers have created unique dual-diameter nanopillars – narrow at the top, broad at the bottom – that absorb light as well or even better than commercial thin-film solar cells, using far less semiconductor material and without the need for anti-reflective coating.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) released a new study Thursday documenting the design of and early experience with state-level renewables portfolio standard (RPS) programs in the United States that have been specifically designed to encourage solar energy. The study finds that these state-level RPS programs have already proven to be an important driver for solar energy deployment in the U.S., resulting in more than 250 megawatts (MW) of new solar capacity through the end of 2009.