Benelux students gear up for the World Solar Challenge

Every two years, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge brings students and innovators, from all over the world, to Australia for a chance to compete and to push the limits of solar cars.

Turbocharging the silicon solar cell to 35 percent efficiency

Move aside tandem solar cells, there may be a better way to increase the performance of PV systems. Managing to bring into practice a four-decade-old idea, MIT researchers light a path to silicon solar cells with an efficiency of 35 percent.

Photonic myths

Setting expectations so unrealistically high that they can never be met will eventually result in a backlash, endangering the entire effort to build an integrated photonics industry in the Netherlands. Not to mention the fact that it pisses off the electronics folks to no end.

In other news

Is your work meaningful?

Some people crave vacation to get a reprieve from the constant grinding of a job that has lost its luster. Use the time that you’re away to reflect on whether your work is (still) meaningful to you.