Scientists have achieved a major breakthrough using a so-called ‘miracle material’ to boost the efficiency of solar panels. Two separate studies published on Thursday demonstrated how the material perovskite could push the power conversion efficiency rate of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells above 30 per cent – beyond the theoretical limit of 29 per cent for traditional silicon (PV) solar cells. “Overcoming this threshold provides confidence that high-performance, low-cost PVs can be brought to the market,” wrote material science researchers Stefaan de Wolf and Erkan Aydin, who were not involved in the research, in an article published in the journal Science. Perovskite has emerged in the past 15 years as a material capable of transforming an array of industries, from renewable energy, to ultra high-speed communications. Materials science professor Zeev Valy Vardeny from the University of Utah described perovskite in 2017 as “unbelievable, a miracle material”, after it was able to radically improve the sunlight-to-energy efficiency of solar cells. Perovskite’s properties allow it to harvest energy from a greater range of the light spectrum, however until recently it was too unstable to be used outside of laboratory conditions. By stacking a layer of perovskite on top of silicon into a tandem device, the researchers were able to significantly boost the efficiency of commercial PV technologies while retaining the industry standard configuration. “Tandem solar cells are the most straight-forward route toward decreasing the levelized cost of electricity, well beyond what is possible for single-junction solar cells,” wrote Professor de Wolf and Aydin. The teams from China and Japan who were behind the latest breakthrough claim the latest design will pave the way for the mass production of ultra-efficient solar panels. The current efficiency record for this next-generation solar cell is 33.7 per cent, achieved by engineers at the KAUST Solar Center in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, having risen from under 4 per cent efficiency in 2009. Last month, a startup in China announced that it planned to begin production of tandem solar cells, with the abundance of perovskite cutting costs to “just one 20th of traditional solar cells”, according to Professor Tan Hairen from Nanjing University. The scientists behind the latest research believe their approach could ultimately achieve an efficiency rate “well above 35 per cent”, though more work needs to be done on making the tandem cells more durable in real-world conditions, as well as scaling them up to the size of traditional solar panels. “Arguably, the most critical factor lies in the annual degradation rate under actual outdoor conditions, which for perovskite-silicon tandems remains largely unknown,” the Perspective noted. “To be commercially viable, this degradation should be on par with mainstream PV technologies, which is less than 1 per cent relative per year.” The research was detailed in two separate papers published in the journal Science. Read More Massive mineral deposit discovery could meet global battery and solar panel demand ‘for next 100 years’

At leat three people have been killed and eight others wounded in a mass shooting at a July 4 fireworks display in Fort Worth, Texas. The massacre unfolded just before midnight on Monday night as revellers gathered to enjoy Independence Day celebrations in the area of Diaz Avenue and Horne Street in Fort Worth’s Como neighbourhood. Fort Worth Police said that investigators believe someone opened fire into the crowd, hitting at least 11 people and sending terrified revellers running for their lives. “We had a shooting. It appears that we had multiple victims that were shot. Probably three of them were transported to Harris Southwest,” said Fort Worth Police Captain Shawn Murray in a press conference. “Five more victims were transported to John Peter Smith.” Police said that emergency responders struggled to reach the victimes due to the large crowds of people and the number of vehicles in the area. Instead, officers loaded victims into their patrol cars and drove them to waiting paramedics, police said. One shooting victim was pronounced dead at the scene while the other 10 were rushed to hospital, reported WFAA. Two other victims were pronounced dead taking the death toll up to three. The identities of the victims are currently unknown but one of the 11 is believed to be a juvenile. No arrests have been made and the identities of the shooter or shooters remain unknown. Capt. Murray said that investigators are working to determine what led up to the shooting and how many people opened fire. “We don’t if this was domestic related or gang related. It’s too early to tell,” he said. “We just know someone shot a bunch of times. We don’t know if it was a single shooter or more than one shooter. “We hope it is just a single shooter and not a crossfire situation. Homicide will figure that out... how many shooters there were.” The mass shooting came just hours after the neighbourhood’s annual ComoFest came to an end. This isn’t the first time Fort Worth’s ComoFest ended in tragedy. Two years ago in 2021, eight people were shot close to a car wash on Horne Street during the celebrations. All shooting victims survived back then. Anyone with information or videos in connection to Monday’s shooting is asked to call Fort Worth Police at 817-392-4330. You could also call Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-8477. Read More Philadelphia mass shooting – live: Fifth victim found dead after gunman, 40, opened fire in Kingsessing Philadelphia shooting: At least five dead as heavily armed gunman opens fire at random on streets

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