Renewable energy articles from across Nature Portfolio

Solar modules made from perovskite materials have a stability issue that arises when they are placed in partial shade. This long-standing problem has now been addressed by integrating an electronic component called a memristor into the solar cell.

Improved technologies are required to curb the substantial greenhouse gas emissions associated with heating and cooling. Researchers have now revisited endothermic cooling to design a sustainable, reversible sorption-driven dissolution refrigeration cycle, which holds broad potential for cooling, heating, and thermal storage applications.

Salinity gradients can be converted into electrical energy via charge-selective membranes, yet controlling the solid–liquid interfacial properties at the nanometre scale remains a key challenge. Now, highly charged nanopores coated with a lipid bilayer are shown to enable hydration lubrication, enhancing ion transport, selectivity and osmotic power generation.

Delphine De Tavernier and colleagues report that next-generation wind turbines may face transonic flow at the blade tip during normal operation. They propose and demonstrate the use of a Transonic Safe Mode, a strategy to ensure a safe design and operation.

Self-aggregation in self-assembled monolayers adversely affects on hole transport performance in inverted perovskite solar cells. To address this issue, Shen et al. propose an indole/carbazole co-adsorption strategy to construct phase-homogeneous monolayers featuring alternating molecular arrangements.

Cation identity and concentration influence electrocatalytic reactions, yet the origin remains debated. Here, the authors report a theoretical framework showing how cations modulate interfacial electrostatics and water dissociation kinetics, explaining multiple inversions of cation-dependent activity trends in alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction.

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction is fundamentally limited by inefficient utilization of solar energy, particularly low-energy photons. Here, the authors report a nanoscale greenhouse structure (Bi@Fe₂O₃) that enables cascaded full-spectrum solar utilization and enhances solar-driven CO₂ reduction with water to CH₄.

The formation of α-phase formamidinium–caesium metal halide perovskites is hindered by limited Cs⁺ incorporation. He et al. use caesium 4-(diphenylphosphino)benzoate to enable efficient Cs⁺ doping and achieve solar cells with an efficiency of 26.6%.

Environmental Robustness Index is established to bridge the gap between laboratory and field performance of solar evaporation technologies. Design principles for managing heat transport enable stable water production in diverse climatic conditions.

Kiruba Catherine Vincent explains how X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to characterize photovoltaic materials.

Solar modules made from perovskite materials have a stability issue that arises when they are placed in partial shade. This long-standing problem has now been addressed by integrating an electronic component called a memristor into the solar cell.

Besides decarbonizing energy supply, photovoltaics can also largely enhance the resilience of global food supply, argues Zhenguo Li.

Sibo Chetry explains how an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber with a cryostat and temperature-controlled sample stage can be used for quantum sieving by thermal desorption of an isotopic mixture.

Improved technologies are required to curb the substantial greenhouse gas emissions associated with heating and cooling. Researchers have now revisited endothermic cooling to design a sustainable, reversible sorption-driven dissolution refrigeration cycle, which holds broad potential for cooling, heating, and thermal storage applications.