Solar Energy Breakthrough
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:11:00 -1000
Subject: New Solar Power Material Can Capture Every Color of the Rainbow
New Solar Power Material Can Capture Every Color of the Rainbow
Written by Andrew Williamsc-Bernard
Published on October 19th, 2008
Scientists have created a new material that could dramatically increase the efficiency of solar cells, by literally capturing every color of the rainbow.
Whereas other materials only catch a small range of light frequencies, and therefore only a small fraction of the potential energy, the new invention is capable of absorbing all the energy contained in sunlight. According to team leader, Prof. Malcolm Chisolm, “There are other such hybrids out there, but the advantage of our material is that we can cover the entire range of the solar spectrum.”
The discovery, made by an elite team at Ohio State University, opens the door to the development of a new generation of hyper-efficient solar cells.
