Classic solar panels may soon be replaced

New Scientist : A new breed of electronic solar cells is being developed that can work after dark. The key to the new devices is their ability to harvest IR radiation, says Steven Novack, one of the developers of the technology at the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls. Nearly half of the available energy in the solar spectrum resides in the IR band, and IR is reemitted by Earth’s surface after the Sun has gone down, meaning that the antennas can even capture some energy during the night, writes Duncan Graham-Rowe for New Scientist.