Researchers in Australia have reached a record high in solar conversion efficiency, converting more than 40 percent of the sunlight that hits solar panels into electricity.
In outdoor tests in Sydney and the U.S., University of New South Wales researchers achieved the record efficiency partially by splitting sunlight into four different cells. Traditionally, solar power works by using just one solar cell, a method that can convert up to 33 percent of sunlight into electricity.
Researchers continue to get better and better at turning sunlight into electricity. Last year, Silicon Valley solar manufacturer Alta Devices set what was then a record of 30.8 percent conversion efficiency, using an extremely thin solar cell that, though more expensive than a typical solar cell, ended up being able to create a large amount of electricity from just a small amount of surface area. That small size makes these cells useful for small devices such as cell phones, tablets, smoke detectors and watches.
Solar has also been a field of major innovation over the last several years, with researchers developing cells that can be stretched across parking lots and sprayed onto roofs. Researchers have also developed transparent solar modules that can be applied to windows, and last month, the Netherlands unveiled the world’s first solar bike lane.
— source thinkprogress.org