A unique solar panel design made with a new ceramic material
points the way to potentially providing sustainable power cheaper, more
efficiently, and requiring less manufacturing time. It also reaches a
four-decade-old goal of discovering a bulk photovoltaic material that can
harness energy from visible and infrared light, not just ultraviolet light.
Scaling up this new design from its tablet-size prototype to
a full-size solar panel would be a large step toward making solar power
affordable compared with other means of producing electricity. It would also
help the nation toward its goal of creating a national power grid that receives
one-third of its power through wind and solar sources.