Researchers have designed a machine learning method that can predict the structure of new materials with five times the efficiency of the current standard, removing a key roadblock in developing advanced materials for applications such as energy storage and photovoltaics.

A team of researchers from the UK and Japan has found that the tiny defects which limit the efficiency of perovskites – cheaper alternative materials for solar cells – are also responsible for structural changes in the material that lead to degradation.

Installing solar panels could help historic buildings beat the rising costs of energy, according to a new study.

Researchers have developed a method to stabilise a promising material known as perovskite for cheap solar cells, without compromising its near-perfect performance.

Researchers have visualised, for the first time, why perovskites – materials which could replace silicon in next-generation solar cells - are seemingly so tolerant of defects in their structure. The findings, led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, are published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Researchers have identified a key mechanism responsible for the lower efficiencies of organic solar cells and shown a way that this hurdle might be overcome.

Researchers have demonstrated the use of tinted, semi-transparent solar panels to generate electricity and produce nutritionally-superior crops simultaneously, bringing the prospect of higher incomes for farmers and maximising use of agricultural land.

Researchers at Cambridge, Imperial and Singapore have developed a method to print ultrathin coatings on next-generation solar cells, allowing them to work in tandem with silicon solar cells to boost efficiencies.

Researchers pinpoint the origin of defects that sap the performance of next-generation solar technology.