EcoFactor: Hybrid material developed to increase the efficiency of solar cells.
Research has proved that if the all the solar energy falling on the Earth per hour is captured, the human race won’t need any other fuel for a year. Capturing energy on every square inch of our planet is by no means a feasible solution. So the only option left is to develop solar panels with high efficiency. Researchers at the Ohio State University are doing just that.
This team of researchers has developed a new hybrid material made from electrically conductive plastic with metals including molybdenum and titanium, which they claim can be used to capture all the colors in visible light. As you all must know that visible light is a mixture of seven colors, which we see in a rainbow. Normal solar panels are not able to capture this entire spectrum, which makes them inefficient.
This hybrid material is not only proficient enough to capture the entire spectrum of light but also displays the property of phosphorescence, which allows the electrons generated to be captured easily.
The Dark Side:
The technology is still in the research stage and a working model could take years to reach the end customers.
Via: Science Daily/Physorg
