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Plasmonic Nanostructures Could Prove a Boon To Solar Cell Technology

Posted by samzenpus on from the brighter-and-brighter dept.

Zothecula writes "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to harvest energy from sunlight more efficiently, with the help of so-called plasmonic nanostructures. The new findings suggest that plasmonic components can enhance and direct optical scattering, creating a mechanism that is more efficient than the photoexcitation that drives solar cells. The development could therefore provide a real boost to solar cell efficiency and lead to faster optical communication."

2 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. I will believe it when I can buy it by Amadodd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If I had a dollar for every time a uni came up with a new solar cell. The reality is that most of what you can buy is stil monocrystalline silicone, same as 50 years ago. Why is nothing commercialised?

    --
    Freedom of speech doesn't come with bandwidth.
  2. Re:Solar cells are already cheap enough by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can think of a few reasons:
    1) This doesn't scale. If we want solar to catch on a massive scale, we need a way to either store it, or a way for a night/cloudy/rainy power source to fill in the gaps
    2) A lot of places where solar would be really useful doesn't have grid access to begin with. Many third world areas (IE: large portions of Africa) come to mind, but there's plenty of other places - the US has large swaths of nothingness that could benefit from solar power but don't have grid connections.
    3) Portable applications, in which in would be impractical to run a temporary grid connection to it, would do great with some energy storage.