[nanoPost] Nanoscale solar cells

Research Center USA

Researchers are using photonic principles to develop solar cell/concentrator devices. The nanoscale cells take advantage of the fact that a solar cell’s efficiency increases under concentrated light. The materials can be tailored to absorb light at a wide range of energies, creating a multi-gap device without expensive multi-junction processing.

The materials necessary to make these thin-film cells are less expensive than conventional solar cell materials. In addition, the innovative solar cell/concentrator construction will offer simpler installation, and possibly enable small and even residential photovoltaic projects to exploit the advantages of the concentrator concept.