India, which has the second-largest population in the world is suffering severely from COVID-19 disease. By May 18th, India investigated ∼1 lakh (0.1million) infected cases from COVID-19, and as of 11th July the cases equalled 8 lakhs. Social distancing and lockdown rules were employed in India, which however had an additional impact on the economy, human living, and environment. Where a negative impact was observed for the economy and human life, the environment got a positive one. How India dealt and can potentially deal with these three factors during and post COVID-19 situation has been discussed here.

To combat global climate change moving towards sustainable, mobility is one of the most holistic approaches. Hence, decarbonization of the transport sector by employing electric vehicles (EVs) is currently an environmentally benign and efficient solution. The EV includes the hybrid EV (HEV), the plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV), and the battery EV (BEV). A storage system, a charging station, and power electronics are the essential components of EVs. The EV charging station is primarily powered from the grid which can be replaced by a solar photovoltaic system. Wide uptake of EVs is possible by improving the technologies, and also with support from the government. However, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) saving potential of the EV is debatable when the required power to charge the EV comes from traditional fossil fuel sources.

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Transmitted external daylight through semitransparent type building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) windows can alter the visible daylight spectrum and render different colors, which can have an impact on building’s occupants’ comfort. Color properties are defined by the color rendering index (CRI) and correlated color temperature (CCT). In this work, a less explored color comfort analysis of N719 dye-sensitized TiO2 based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs) BIPV window was characterized and analyzed after 2 years of ambient exposure. Three different DSSCs were fabricated by varying TiO2 thickness. The reduced average visible transmission was observed while enhanced color properties were obtained for all three DSSCs. This study could pave way to future developments in the area of BIPV technology using DSSC in terms of their long-term exploration.

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Transparent, superhydrophilic materials are indispensable for their self-cleaning function, which has become an increasingly popular research topic, particularly in photovoltaic (PV) applications. Here, we report hydrophilic and superhydrophilic ZnO by varying the morphology for use as a self-cleaning coating for PV applications. Three different ZnO microstructures, such as ZnO nanorods (R-ZnO), ZnO microflowers (F-ZnO), and ZnO microspheres (M-ZnO), were developed by hydrothermal methods. The surface morphology by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), wettability behavior by using water contact angle (WCA) measurements, structural and optical properties by using photoluminescence (PL), Raman, and UV–vis spectrophotometry, and defect estimation by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the ZnO nanostructured films were systematically investigated. XRD confirmed the formation of the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. The average crystallite sizes of prepared R-ZnO, F-ZnO, and M-ZnO were found to be 28.95, 11.19, and 41.5 nm, respectively. The band gap values of ZnO nanostructures were calculated from the UV–vis absorption spectrum and found to be 3.6, 3.3, and 3.1 eV for R-ZnO, F-ZnO, and M-ZnO, respectively. The WCAs for R-ZnO and F-ZnO were 20.2 and 11.19°, respectively, while M-ZnO behaved like a superhydrophilic material having a WCA of 2.8°.

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