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SOLAR IMPACT


I

n a 1931 conversation with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison said, “We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy – sun, wind and tide. I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

And tackle that we did with photovoltaic cells made up of materials called semiconductors, typically silicon, that convert sunlight to energy.

A warming planet, however, reduces the efficiency of solar-energy technology. That’s because solar-panel efficiency drops by .5 percent every time the temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius.

Sun shining on a solar cell excites electrons to a higher energy level due to the charge it creates. But when the cell is hot from the start, electrons are already in this excited state, which in turn produces less electricity

So, what now?

Solar technology is becoming more efficient, however. Researchers are developing cutting-edge materials and manufacturing models; multi-layer photovoltaic cells that absorb light from different parts of the spectrum like ultraviolet, visible light and infrared; and advanced technology like perovskites, whose specific crystal structure is highly efficient at converting sunlight to electricity.

Chinedu Ekuma, a physics professor at Lehigh University, sees the problem, particularly in the warmest climates, and possible new solutions.

“With rising global temperatures, solar panels are at risk of losing efficiency as excessive heat decreases their ability to convert sunlight into electricity.

This can undermine solar energy’s effectiveness in regions experiencing prolonged heat waves, pushing researchers to innovate materials that perform well even under extreme environmental conditions,” Ekuma says.

Ekuma’s research, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, has produced a quantum material creating unparalleled solar-cell efficiency rates expected to contribute to next-generation, high-efficiency solar cells.

“Our newly developed quantum material, which incorporates intermediate band states, allows for a higher level of photon absorption and carrier generation. This innovation facilitates the generation of more than one electron per photon, pushing quantum efficiency beyond traditional limits, up to 190 percent, providing an exciting leap forward for photovoltaic applications,” Ekuma tells KUST Review.

This is especially significant because it implies the potential to exceed the Shockley-Queisser limit, which represents the theoretical maximum efficiency of a single-junction solar cell under standard conditions at 100 percent. In order to do so, the efficiency would have to exceed a maximum solar conversion efficiency of around 33.7 percent.

This limit exists because not all sunlight has the right energy to be converted into electricity. Some bounces off without being absorbed. Some is lost as heat or is relaxed into lower energy states that aren’t used. Some can’t maintain the excited electron state and defaults to its original states before it can be used. And some photons simply don’t have enough energy to boost the electrons.

Obstacles and applications

Ekuma’s team doesn’t foresee major obstacles to implementing their material into current solar energy systems. But scaling up to a commercial level of production and implementing the new material into existing technologies is going to take research and reduced cost, Ekuma says.

Ekuma’s material could pose solutions for countries where the temperatures are among the highest.
These places include the Middle East, where more energy is used for cooling than anywhere else on the planet.

The region has over 300 days of sunshine each year. According to Rystad Energy, it is expected to reach solar capacity of close to 23 gigawatts of power by the end of 2024.

Solar energy is expected to reach close to 50 percent of the regional power supply by 2050.

The Middle East and North Africa Region signed a pledge at the 2023 COP28 event hosted in Dubai to add 62 gigawatts of renewable energy over the following five years. Of that, 85 percent will be solar.

SOLAR IN THE UAE

The UAE has a number of solar energy projects in progress and aims to triple its clean-energy contributions by 2050.

The largest of four major projects is in the Al Dhafra region about 35 kilometers south of Abu Dhabi. The largest single-site solar power plant in the world spans more than 20 square kilometers of open desert. It was operationally ready in June 2023 and was inaugurated just ahead of the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai.

The plant, fitted with close to 4 million solar panels, can bring electricity to close to 200,000 homes and save 2.4 million tons of carbon emissions annually. This is equivalent to removing nearly half a million cars from the road for one year.

The panel efficiency broke records in January 2020 with its bi-facial technology. January in UAE is ideal for maximum solar panel efficiency as temperatures average 25 degrees Celsius, the optimal temperature for solar.

Summer months, however, can reach 50 degrees, reducing efficiency by 10 to 25 percent.

Khalifa University’s Samuel Sheng Mao says the UAE is continuously working to develop innovative solutions to combat the heat issue.

“An innovation and research and development center under Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is dedicated to testing and developing new solar technologies, including advanced cooling systems and materials adapted to the UAE’s climate. The park is involved in testing bifacial panels, advanced cooling techniques and integrating phase-change materials to enhance efficiency during extreme heat.

Mao is also director of the ASPIRE Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, where Khalifa University researchers have been developing concentrated solar power and thermal energy storage technologies. They have also developed a passive cooling technology to mitigate the thermal loads for next-generation solar cells, he says.

Solutions to improve efficiency also include thermal storage units that can be used during peak demand periods. This balances the load, takes strain off the main energy grid and allows for better distribution management.

One thing is for certain, as the world continues its hot trajectory, solar technologies research will have to keep pace.

“Continuous advancements in materials science and thermal management are expected to enhance the performance of solar panels further, making solar energy a more viable and sustainable option even in extreme climates,” Mao tells KUST Review.

UAE SOLAR ENERGY ADVANCEMENTS

JANUARY 2020
Record-breaking panel efficiency achieved using bi-facial solar technology. January’s average temperature of 25°C supports optimal performance.

JUNE 2023
The world’s largest single-site solar power plant in Al Dhafra becomes operational.

Covering 20 square kilometers, it features 4 million solar panels, powers 200,000 homes, and saves 2.4 million tons of carbon emissions annually.

NOVEMBER 2023
The Al Dhafra plant is inaugurated ahead of COP28 in Dubai.

ONGOING
Khalifa University and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park focus on: advanced cooling systems and materials for extreme heat. Thermal storage, passive cooling, and next-gen solar cell technologies.

2050
UAE aims to triple its clean-energy contributions, with solar as a key pillar.

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Hope for people with kidney
cancer

Cancer treatments, for most who can have them, are typically limited to chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgery. But not all patients are candidates for all therapeutic options.

Some patients are elderly or have health conditions like heart issues, limited lung function or a complicated history of blood clotting. And while non-surgical options are sometimes effective in these cases, there are some cancers that are resistant to the other traditional treatments.

Renal cell carcinoma is typically treated with surgery and is well known to be resistant to chemo and radiation. But for those patients who are not ideal surgical candidates, some good news is on the horizon — a new study is aiming to improve patient outcomes by applying the treatments differently.

Radiation therapy is typically delivered from outside the body, so the study will adapt the treatment and target kidney cancer tumors from inside the body via microscopic beads called TheraSphere Glass Microspheres. These glass spheres produced by Boston Scientific contain a specific type of radiation called radioactive yttrium (Y-90).

The doctors running the study expect the beads to distribute 10 times the volume of radiation as external radiation.

The hope is that the volume of radiation and direct targeting of the tumor will destroy the cancer cells while protecting the surrounding organs.

The Phase 2 trial is being funded by Boston Scientific and being carried out by Researchers at London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute.

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Human cells are warming up to
self-destruction

Cellular processes are maintained by the function of proteins, which means finding ways to control protein function dictates the development of biotech tools.

This is incredibly difficult to do with precision. But it can be done with thermogenetics — a bit of heating or cooling of the protein to activate or deactivate it.

Researchers from Kanazawa University have achieved this heat-triggered on/off switch by combining two parts: caspase-8 (a protein that instructs cells when it’s time to die) and elastin-like polypeptides, or ELPs, which clump together when the temperature rises above 35-40 degrees Celsius.

Fuse these together and the result is a protein that stays quiet until things warm up, at which time the ELPs bunch up, dragging the caspase-8 molecules close enough to flip on the self-destruct signal.

By testing in human cell lines and adding a fluorescent “glow” reporter, the team was able to watch the process live. The heat was added with a precise infrared laser and cell death was triggered in single cells.

The results, published in ACS Nano, mean scientists now have a novel way to study and control cell behavior with pinpoint accuracy. This opens doors for therapies targeting certain cells (like cancer therapies) and leaving the others untouched.

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It’s a macroscopic miracle

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics goes to three researchers for their work in quantum mechanics … decades ago.

Michel H. Devoret, Yale University, John M. Martinis, University of California, Santa Barbara and John Clarke, University of California, Berkeley, were awarded the prestigious prize for their breakthrough work in a string of experiments on superconducting quantum circuits in the 1980s.

It’s unusual to award a Nobel Prize today for work done over four decades ago, and no one was more surprised than the recipients: “I’m completely stunned. At the time we did not realize in any way that this might be the basis for a Nobel Prize,” said Clarke in a news conference just after he was told of the win. “Many people are working on quantum computing; our discovery is in many ways the basis for this.”

“Quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology.”

– Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics

“The laureates used a series of experiments to demonstrate that the bizarre properties of the quantum world can be made concrete in a system big enough to be held in the hand. Their superconducting electrical system could tunnel from one state to another, as if it were passing straight through a wall. They also showed that the system absorbed and emitted energy in doses of specific sizes, just as predicted by quantum mechanics,” the Nobel website reads.

Ultimately, their work revealed that using quantum tunneling allows electrons to burrow through the energy barrier. This demonstrated that quantum tunneling can also be reproduced in electrical circuits in the real world.

Because of this, quantum chips that function using qubits with heightened abilities now exist, helping to solve problems classical computers cannot.

For example, in drug development, these chips can be used in complicated chemical and molecular reactions simulations offering a high level of accuracy that is far beyond the capability of classical supercomputers.

IMAGE: Shutterstock

Other fields that can develop because of quantum chips include artificial intelligence, logistics, supply chain management, financial modeling and advanced scientific research.

In a press release, Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics said, “It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises. It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology.”

Though the discovery was made in the 1980s, it was profound, overarching and continues to be the foundation upon which quantum computing develops. The practical applications at the time of the discovery weren’t necessarily apparent, but they are now.

The laureates share a cash prize of 11 million Swedish kronor (U.S.$1.16 million).

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AI viruses join the fight against
bacteria

Scientists from Stanford and the Arc Institute used AI to design entire virus genomes from scratch. The success is all about language.

The research team, using “genome language models,” taught the AI the language of DNA and asked it to invent viruses that attack bacteria.

Of hundreds of attempts, 16 were successful. Some even outperformed natural viruses. They burst open bacteria faster, survived bacterial defenses and even beat the go-to lab phage, ΦX174, in head-to-head competitions.

This is a large step forward for AI-driven biology and future phage therapies.

The results suggest AI can now design entire living genomes.

This means there is potential for smarter therapies for antibiotic-resistant infections and new possibilities in synthetic biology.

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