New Solar Power Material Can Capture Every Color of the Rainbow
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.”
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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. Although at this point the material is said to be some years from commercial development, the university has enough confidence in its potential to commit a large slice of its $100 million ‘high impact’ research budget to the research team over the next five years.
Such long-term investment lends a great deal of credibility to the project, and is likely to increase the chances of the invention moving from the laboratory towards commercial development.
Image Credit - Sylvar via flickr.com on a Creative Commons license
ok anything black absorbs “all the energy contained in sunlight” and covers “the entire range of the solar spectrum” so what is so different and special about their thing they made… because it’s not those two things.
These articles are awesome and Im all for clean energy, but they seem to be saying “Energy crisis solved!” when there should be a disclaimer from a scientist about why its still impractical. Every time I research breakthroughs on this site theres always a massive “yes, but…” that doesnt ever get covered here
Wasn’t this a discovery made by a 13 year old a couple weeks back?
So 7 colors gives it 7 times more output.
“literally catching every every color of the rainbow.”
You mean… it’s black?
I think it would be wonderful if the results of this research produced solar cells powerful enough to provide large amounts of power for homes, cars, etc. We could gradually lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and switch over to more green sources of energy.
Devin…
You confuse light with pigment… Frequencies (colors) of light mix together to form ‘white’ light not black.
@Raymond Heston
Black is correct. Something is black when light is shining on it because no colour is reflected back from the surface.
Raymond….Devin’s right. White light is indeed all colours, but you “see” what colour(s) is/are not absorbed, because it reflects off the object and reaches your eye. Black objects are absorbing all light, white objects absorb no light (leaving every colour).
For those stressing about the rainbow - ignore the picture, it’s misleading. I’m guessing the new material is merely a darker black than the usual.
Geneviève - the current solar cells are already enough to power houses or cars. If you install a reasonable number of solar panels on your house, you can gain a surplus of energy, and in Australia at least, the power companies will pay you for the surplus you create.
I agree with “That Guy” that this material is probably a darker black therefore absorbing more light. There’s still the problem of excessive heat with a darker material that has to be dealt with. Sort of like when you compare wearing a black shirt vs a white shirt on a sunny day.