April 23, 2013

New material approach should increase solar cell efficiency




“When designing next generation solar energy conversion systems, we must first develop ways to more efficiently utilize the solar spectrum,” explained Lane Martin, whose research group has done just that.

“This is a fundamentally new way of approaching these matters,” said Martin, who is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering (MatSE) at Illinois. “From these materials we can imagine carbon-neutral energy production of clean-burning fuels, waste water purification and remediation, and much more.”