MORE LIGHT FOR SOLAR

New material combines photons for big solar energy gains

Graham Templeton, July 28, 2015 (Extreme Tech)

“…University of California Riverside researchers are taking] currently inaccessible infra-red light and turning it into visible light…[This theoretically greatly improves] the efficiency of solar power…[at] an affordable price…Infrared light currently passes straight through most silicon solar cell technologies…Much of solar research has worked to directly convert infrared light to electricity, but such technologies change the transistor design, and thus the manufacturing process for solar panels. Their impacts tend to be limited by cost concerns…These researchers chose to accept the absorptive abilities of current silicon transistors, and instead looked to make the light conform to the panels. They created an all-new hybrid material…By changing the incoming sunlight into silicon’s favorite for absorption, the material could improve solar panel efficiency by as much as 30%. And while the costs of the material itself are not yet known, there is huge potential in offering such large improvements without the need to completely reinvent the transistor…” click here for more

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