{"id":15913,"date":"2016-03-18T15:36:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T19:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=15913"},"modified":"2016-12-16T11:21:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T16:21:04","slug":"ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A new method developed by the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has the potential to better solar power.<\/span>
Photo \u00a9 Bigstock.com\/Thufir<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed new measurement and data analysis techniques that could improve the performance of solar cells.<\/p>\n

While solar cells are made from light-harvesting perovskite (an organic-inorganic hybrid), materials have recently eclipsed the 20 percent efficiency mark; researchers believe they could do better if they had a clearer picture of energy flow at the nanometer scale.<\/p>\n

The ORNL discovery synchronizes microscopy, ultra-short pulses of laser light and data analytics to extract images with single-pixel precision, providing unprecedented detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can see exactly and in real-time what is happening, we can map out the electronic processes in space instead of relying on snapshots gleaned from spatial averages,\u201d said one of the method\u2019s authors, Benjamin Doughty. \u201cWith conventional approaches of studying photovoltaic (PV) materials, we are unable to accurately map out electronic processes and how electrons are getting lost. Those processes can translate into losses in efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers believe they can make improvements that lead to solar cells that are more efficient and potentially less expensive if they are armed with information about what electrons are doing inside of the material. The experiment consists of optically pumping the thin film sample with a 50 fentosecond (50 millionths of a billionth of a second) laser pulse and then measure changes in light absorption with a second laser pulse in the material. This technique is called femtosecond transient absorption microscopy. The net result is a pixel-by-pixel map of the material being studied.<\/p>\n

To read a paper on the experiment, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

For more on solar power, check out previous The Construction Specifier<\/em> features, such as\u201cPlanning Solar-ready Roof: Advantages with standing seam metal assemblies<\/a>,\u201d by Harry Lubitz, and \u201cSolar power: Focusing on quality and long-term reliability<\/a>,\u201d by Sam Tsou.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed new measurement and data analysis techniques that could improve the performance of solar cells. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1029],"tags":[2632,2628,2630,2631,1184,2629],"class_list":["post-15913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-benjamin-doughty","tag-doe","tag-experiment","tag-microscopy","tag-oak-ridge-national-laboratory","tag-solar-power","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed new measurement and data analysis techniques that could improve the performance of solar cells.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Construction Specifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Daniel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Daniel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Daniel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34e59e3f0bf081d4b975ae9b2c1764f3\"},\"headline\":\"ORNL method could provide solar power potential\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":337,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benjamin Doughty\",\"DOE\",\"Experiment\",\"Microscopy\",\"Oak Ridge National Laboratory\",\"Solar Power\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/\",\"name\":\"ORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"A new method developed by the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has the potential to better solar power. Photo \u00a9 Bigstock.com\\\/Thufir\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ORNL method could provide solar power potential\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Construction Specifier\",\"description\":\"Solutions for the Construction Industry\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Construction Specifier\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg\",\"width\":288,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"The Construction Specifier\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34e59e3f0bf081d4b975ae9b2c1764f3\",\"name\":\"Katie Daniel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Katie Daniel\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/author\\\/katie-daniel\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier","og_description":"The Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed new measurement and data analysis techniques that could improve the performance of solar cells.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/","og_site_name":"The Construction Specifier","article_published_time":"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Katie Daniel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Daniel","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Daniel","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e59e3f0bf081d4b975ae9b2c1764f3"},"headline":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential","datePublished":"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/"},"wordCount":337,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg","keywords":["Benjamin Doughty","DOE","Experiment","Microscopy","Oak Ridge National Laboratory","Solar Power"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/","name":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential - The Construction Specifier","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-18T19:36:46+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-16T16:21:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/bigstock-Solar-Energy-1474053.jpg","width":900,"height":675,"caption":"A new method developed by the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has the potential to better solar power. Photo \u00a9 Bigstock.com\/Thufir"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/ornl-method-could-provide-solar-power-potential\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ORNL method could provide solar power potential"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/","name":"The Construction Specifier","description":"Solutions for the Construction Industry","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization","name":"The Construction Specifier","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg","width":288,"height":70,"caption":"The Construction Specifier"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e59e3f0bf081d4b975ae9b2c1764f3","name":"Katie Daniel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61581f197b5eb954385d63e8f4a68b6624a13223539469ba68b02582f220045a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Daniel"},"url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/author\/katie-daniel\/"}]}},"views":3716,"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15913"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23226,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913\/revisions\/23226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/media\/15915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}