'Moth Eye' Graphene Breakthrough Could Create Indoor Solar Cells (newsweek.com)

A scientific breakthrough with the "wonder material" graphene has opened up the possibility of indoor solar cells that capture energy from indirect sunlight, as well as ambient energy from household devices. Researchers from the University of Surrey in the U.K. studied the eyes of moths to create sheets of graphene that they claim is the most light-absorbent material ever created. "We realized that the moth's eye works in a particular way that traps electromagnetic waves very efficiently," Professor Ravi Silva, head of the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey, tells Newsweek. "As a result of our studies, we've been able to mimic the surface of a moth's eye and create an amazingly thin, efficient, light-absorbent material made of graphene."

Comments

New article lacks details

[MrL0G1C]

This isn't the first time us Brits have come up with solar for cloudy days. See:
British scientists develop solar panels which work better on a cloudy day [March 2014]
Both articles lack details about the efficiency in diffused light conditions.

Researchers from the University of Surrey in the U.K. studied the eyes of moths to create sheets of graphene that they claim is the most light-absorbent material ever created.

I doubt this very much, the best solar collectors will collect 46% of light, but of course they don't come cheap, current cheap cells are the ones collecting up to 15 to 22% of light.

Cell Efficiency Chart (jpg)If the researchers had created solar collectors with more than 46% efficiency then they would say what the efficiency is and have it verified and it would be big news.

Re:New article lacks details

[Anonymous Coward]

Abstract from http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/2/e1501238

The ability to engineer a thin two-dimensional surface for light trapping across an ultra-broad spectral range is central for an increasing number of applications including energy, optoelectronics, and spectroscopy. Although broadband light trapping has been obtained in tall structures of carbon nanotubes with millimeter-tall dimensions, obtaining such broadband light–trapping behavior from nanometer-scale absorbers remains elusive. We report a method for trapping the optical field coincident with few-layer decoupled graphene using field localization within a disordered distribution of subwavelength-sized nanotexturing metal particles. We show that the combination of the broadband light–coupling effect from the disordered nanotexture combined with the natural thinness and remarkably high and wavelength-independent absorption of graphene results in an ultrathin (15 nm thin) yet ultra-broadband blackbody absorber, featuring 99% absorption spanning from the mid-infrared to the ultraviolet. We demonstrate the utility of our approach to produce the blackbody absorber on delicate opto-microelectromechanical infrared emitters, using a low-temperature, noncontact fabrication method, which is also large-area compatible. This development may pave a way to new fabrication methodologies for optical devices requiring light management at the nanoscale.

Re:Do they work with the curtains shut

[vtcodger]

There are hundreds of miles of limestone caves in Kentucky. We can line the walls of those caverns with these cells and produce more power than Niagara Falls. Kentucky can be the Saudi Arabia of green electric power. Electricity too cheap to meter ... Wazzat? They need SOME light? ... DRAT. ... Cancel the IPO.