Avalanche Effect Could Make Solar Cells Highly Efficient
	Solar cells have the opportunity to revolutionize the electric energy generation process on Earth, but their use today is highly restricted by the high manufacturing costs and their notorious inefficiency in converting light into electricity. The record conversion efficiency for solar cells has been set a couple of weeks back with a prototype able to turn about 23.2 percent of the gathered light directly into electricity – when the average ... [read more >>]
	27 May 2008, 06:17GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Solar Cell Beats Efficiency Record
	When talking about solar cell efficiency, even a rise of 1 percent, which to some may appear modest, is reason for researchers to celebrate. The previous solar cell conversion efficiency was averaging 21.9 percent. A new world record for solar cell efficiency has been set on Wednesday by a team of researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology in collaboration with colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute, who achieved a relative ... [read more >>]
	17 May 2008, 05:04GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Quantum Dots, The Solution for Efficient Solar Cells
	It looks like scientists have finally cracked it! They argue that, by creating a solar cell out of differently sized quantum dots, solar cells could become much more efficient than they currently are. This so-called 'rainbow' design involves arranging quantum dots according to size, so that each one acts on a specific wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum, thus harvesting most of the power light carries. The un ... [read more >>]
	10 March 2008, 07:38GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Don't Just Paint, Generate!
	What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear: solar-energy powered cars? Let me guess... big ugly solar panels, right? That's about to change real quick, so say a couple of researchers from the United Kingdom. Instead of using solid heavy large silicon solar panels, scientists propose the use of printable flexible solar cells, or even better – paint capable of harnessing the power of the Sun to convert it into electri ... [read more >>]
	07 March 2008, 10:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

US Company Prints Out Solar Cell Through Inkjet Printer!
	Not much to say about solar cells and solar panels these days. Researchers are still working on enhancing the light-electric energy conversion rates, struggling to lower fabrication costs, making solar cells flexible... What am I talking about?? These guys are freaking geniuses! I mean they've made solar cells with the help of an inkjet printer, for God's sake! The unique performance is attributed to a Massachusetts ... [read more >>]
	07 March 2008, 07:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Solar Cells Work
	The Sun is relatively generous when it comes to providing the Earth with power, as massive amounts of energy are daily radiated towards our planet. It has been calculated that, on a sunny day, the Sun is able to produce about 1,000 watts of pure energy per square meter on the surface of the Earth. If only we were able to efficiently capture at least a fraction of this energy, we could finally say 'goodbye' to fossil fuels. Sun ... [read more >>]
	09 January 2008, 10:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

New Organic Materials for Making Solar Cells
	Solar cells use the light of the Sun to produce electric current, through an effect known as the photoelectric effect or the Hertz effect, due to its discovery by Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. It was first explained by Albert Einstein using the wave-particle duality of the light, work which gave Einstein the Nobel Prize for Physics (and not the Theory of Relativity as most people believe). The wave-particle duality says that certai ... [read more >>]
	02 November 2007, 11:54GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia