Manuel J. Mendes Website

• September 2024:

Together with researchers from Aveiro (Portugal), York (UK) and Arizona (USA), we've shown how different photonic technologies can be synergistically combined for effective light manipulation in Perovskite PV, enabling higher efficiency, adaptability and resilience for Earth and Space systems. This was broadcasted in several web news: 

PV Magazine - Photon shifting, trapping enable 28.2% higher photocurrent in perovskite solar cells.

Similar news items were also presented in Interesting Engineer magazine and Perovskite-info.

• November 2023:

Our project X-STREAM (Power-to-X: Streaming Hydrogen from 3-Band Solar Cells boosted with Photonic Management) won an ERC Consolidator Grant under the Horizon EU program (ERC-2023-COG, Grant No. 101124803) - one of the most prestigious European grants awarded to individual researchers. This was broadcasted in several national media news, such as:

Público - Bolsas europeias: há mais dez milhões de euros para cinco projetos portugueses.

Jornal de Negócios - Investigador português recebe dois milhões para gerar hidrogénio através de energia solar..

Jornal Económico - Três projetos nacionais com financiamento de 6 milhões do Conselho Europeu de Investigação.

 

• Ciência Viva annual events:

Every year our group receives high-school students to learn and develop PV-related activities during a week in July, in the frame of the Ciência Viva summer programs organized within CENIMAT-NOVA. Our topic, entitled Make the Sun your Energy Source, has received much enthusiasm by the participating students, giving them valuable training in solar energy technologies and fostering the close contact with our daily R&D work. Besides, these activities usually receive the visit of famous personalities (as shown in the photos below), and gained much attention from national media channels.

For instance, here's the links to some of the news released in the 2022 event: 

RTP - Portugal em Direto: Lançamento do Ciência Viva no Laboratório 2022;

República Portuguesa - Nova edição do Ciência Viva no Laboratório;

Ciência Viva - Começou a 26.ª edição do Ciência Viva no Laboratório;

CMTV - Estágios Ciência Viva nos Laboratórios 2022 - Falar Global

      

Caption: Visits of different Ministers of Science & Higher Education to the solar cell exposition boots of 2 of the Ciência Viva activities that my group organized in July 2021 and 2022. Left – photo showing, from left to right, the FCT-NOVA Director (Dr. Virgílio Machado), the President of Ciência Viva (Dr. Rosalia Vargas), the Minister (Prof. Manuel Heitor) and myself, observing a solar tracking device developed by the high-school students participating in the Ciência Viva theme of 2021 (during Covid-19 pandemic). Center & Right – photos of 2022 showing the Minister (Prof. Elvira Fortunato) and the President of Ciência Viva commenting the activities of our high-school students, who are fabricating dye-sensitized solar cells with natural pigments following the instructions of my co-worker Dr. A. Vicente (in right photo). 

• March 2021:

Our project HIGHLIGHT, on photonic nanostructures for anti-counterfeiting, won the 3rd place of the IN3+ award of INCM (Imprensa Nacional da Casa da Moeda) - the highest innovation award in Portugal to individual projects/ideas. The 3 top projects and the ceremony (with the participation of the President, shown in the photo below, and Prime Minister of Portugal) were announced in the main media as: 

TVI24 - Prémio de inovação entrega 1 milhão de euros a projetos inovadores.

Público - 3 ideias para mudar o futuro: conheça os projetos finalistas do prémio IN3+.

• February 2021:

Our research of Photonic-enhanced Thin-film Solar Cells was reported on TV! See the complete video here:

SIC Notícias - Exame Informática: novos painéis fotovoltaicos.

• October 2020:

Our article in collaboration with Univ. of York, entitled "Light trapping in solar cells: simple design rules to maximize absorption" became viral in the news worldwide! It was the top downloaded paper from Optica in October 2020 (>4000 views only in first month), and in November we received a congratulating report from Optical Society of America (OSA) stating that “the media coverage related to this article has a potential audience reach of at least 760,046 worldwide”. This work was broadcasted in >150 international media outlets, and here is a list of a few selected news items:

International news:

ScienceDaily.com - New solar panel design could lead to wider use of renewable energy

MaterialsToday magazine - Solar panel checkerboard design improves light absorption

Optics&Photonics News - Checkerboard Nanostructure Boosts Thin-Film PVs

PV Magazine.com - Checkerboard solar cell design for improved light diffraction

TechExplore.com - New solar panel design could lead to wider use of renewable energy

Newsbreak.com - New solar panel design boosts the light absorption by 125%

Good News Network.org - Breakthrough 3D Solar Panel Design Increases Light Absorption By 125% – A Potential Game-Changer

National news:

Expresso.pt - Painéis fotovoltaicos ao preço de uma bateria de telemóvel

Publico.pt - Painéis solares mais eficientes propostos por cientistas de Portugal e Reino Unido

Observador.pt - Investigadores de Portugal e Reino Unido propõem desenho de painéis solares mais eficiente

Energiser.pt - Desenho inovador melhora eficiência dos painéis solares

RTP.pt - Investigação portuguesa pode revolucionar preços da energia solar

• July 2019:

Micro-patterned perovskite solar cells trap light better, in MaterialsToday.com.

• September 2013:

Plasmonics and quantum dots team up for solar harvesting, in Nanotechweb.org Lab Talk, article 54813

• August 2011:

Separation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with DEP-FFF, in NASA Tech Briefs New Technology Item. MSC-24368-1/70-1