Carbon Nanotube Solar Cells On the Horizon

Posted by timothy on Tuesday September 22, 2009 @02:50AM from the on-the-horizon-they're-closest-to-the-sun dept.

MikeChino writes Carbon nanotube news abounds as of late, and the next application for the up and coming material may be hyper-efficient and economical solar cells. Led by professor Paul McEuen, researchers at Cornell recently tested a simple solar cell (called a photodiode) crafted from a single carbon nanotube. Surprisingly, researchers discovered that more light shined on the nanotube created even more electricity, a huge difference from today's silicon solar cells where excess energy is lost in the form of heat rather than used to create more electricity."

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Re:The technology isn't important by kheldan · 2009-09-22 03:38 · Score: 5, Funny

The question is, it it cost-effective?
If someone developed a 99% efficient solar cell, would you really care what it cost?

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