Greatcell Solar (formerly Dyesol), has announced a $5 million AUD (almost $4 million USD) share purchase plan to raise funds to continue work on technology scale-up, testing and accreditation, equipment procurement and facilities fit-out, as well as for general working capital purposes.

Greatcell is offering eligible shareholders the opportunity to purchase fully paid ordinary shares (New Shares) at an issue price of $0.18 per New Share, which is a discount of approximately 13.5% to the volume weighted average price of Greatcell's shares on the ASX during the 5 trading days immediately prior to today. All New Shares will be quoted on ASX and will rank equally with other fully paid ordinary shares on issue.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have used a powerful "electron camera" to establish that light whirls atoms around in perovskites, potentially explaining the high efficiency of perovskite-based solar cell materials and providing clues for making better ones.

The scientists recorded movies that show that certain atoms in a perovskite respond to light within trillionths of a second in a very unusual manner. They explain that this may facilitate the transport of electric charges through the material and boost its efficiency.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) discovered unique properties in certain halide perovskites: they are able to block heat transfer while preserving high electrical conductivity - a rare pairing that could reduce heat buildup in electronic devices and turbine engines, among other possible applications.

These thermoelectric properties were found in nanoscale wires of cesium tin iodide (CsSnI3). The material was observed to have one of the lowest levels of heat conductivity among materials with a continuous crystalline structure. The material can also be more easily produced in large quantities than typical thermoelectric materials, such as silicon-germanium, researchers said.