Caltech solar labs
SEP 01, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023648
latimes.com : In a lab in Caltech, Harry Atwater holds up a plastic panel, a fraction of a millimeter thick. Even in the bright room, the surface’s panel remains jet-black—absorbing all the light that hits it.The high-tech material is 10 times more efficient at absorbing light than the regular silicon cells that some homeowners install on their roofs to harvest the energy of the sun.It is one of several projects that Atwater’s team at Caltech is pursuing in a push to design the next generation of solar cells—ones that are cheap, long-lasting and flexible enough to be practical for homeowners and businesses.
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
