Black Silicon Solar Cells Can Absorb Infrared Spectrum And Now Are A Whole Lot More Efficient

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 08:31 in Physics & Chemistry

Solar cells can convert up to three-quarters of the energy contained in the Sun‘s spectrum into electricity, yet the infrared spectrum is entirely lost in standard solar cells. Around a quarter of the Sun’s spectrum is made up of infrared radiation which cannot be converted by standard solar cells; that heat radiation is lost. One way to overcome it is to use black silicon, a material that absorbs nearly all of the sunlight that hits it, including infrared radiation, and converts it into electricity. But how is this material produced? read more

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