Australia's growing mountain of solar panel waste could become far more valuable, with University of Newcastle researchers taking a major step toward making solar panel recycling economically sustainable. The team has successfully scaled up a process that recovers valuable silver from end-of-life solar panels, demonstrating almost 100% silver recovery during the world's first continuous pilot-scale flotation trial for solar-panel recycling.

One of the most promising technologies is perovskite solar cells. They are highly efficient at converting sunlight into electricity, can be manufactured as thin and flexible devices, and require less energy and lower production costs than conventional silicon modules. However, their commercial adoption has long been limited by a fundamental challenge—insufficient long-term stability when exposed to moisture, heat and oxygen.

Cornell researchers are using artificial intelligence to speed the search for better battery materials while using a creative approach to chemistry to expand the design space for electrolytes, unlocking new possibilities for safer, higher-performing energy storage.

Residents of Moerdijk, a small Dutch port village that survived World War II bombing and subsequent flooding, are facing a new existential challenge: the threat of being bulldozed in the name of clean energy.