Scientists from the University of Kansas say adding a layer of two-dimensional semiconductor molybdenum disulfide can greatly improve the performance of organic solar cells. The research could also inform efforts to engineer the interface between layers in hybrid organic cells.

Swiss equipment supplier Meyer Burger has signed a contract to supply heterojunction cell manufacturing equipment to an unnamed North American manufacturer.

Polysilicon maker REC Silicon has announced that it will lay off another 100 workers at its Moses Lake facility in Washington State, as the factory heads into long term shutdown.

Engineers at the University of Utah have developed a tiny device which they say could increase the performance of PV panels and other electronic devices by converting energy lost as heat back into electricity.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a device they say could “turbocharge” a single-junction silicon PV cell, pushing the technology beyond its theoretical limit to efficiencies of 35% and higher.

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S. used x-ray imaging to observe cracks forming in a solid state lithium battery, a discovery they say changes the understanding of performance of solid state batteries and which could lead to more durable systems.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an accelerated process for screening new perovskite compounds as they search for those with the potential to be used in high efficiency solar cells. According to MIT, the process speeds up the synthesis and analysis of new compounds by a factor of ten and has already highlighted two sets of materials worthy of further study.

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a type of electrode which is highly resistant to salt corrosion, therefore allowing them to produce hydrogen using seawater. Applied at a larger scale, this development could potentially cut the cost of power-to-gas applications by greatly increasing the amount of water available.

REC Silicon has revealed plans to halt operations at its Moses Lake facility in 17 days’ time. The company says it has taken the decision to maintain liquidity for its semiconductor business with American workers set to pay the price for President Trump’s trade war with China.

A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 12.25% for a non-fullerene based organic solar cell.