Improved Solar Cells

Introduction

Sunlight is an abundant source of energy. But conventional solar cells are able to convert just 31 per cent of the light into power. Most of the sunlight that falls on solar cells gets lost as radiation and heat before it can be trapped by the silicon semiconductor.

Scientists at University of Texas in USA said the efficiency of solar cells can be improved by reducing the loss of energy. They have found replacing the silicon semiconductor with lead selenide reduces the loss of energy through reflection and doubles the efficiency of solar cells.

Source

Down to Earth, July 2010