IBM has created a high-efficiency solar cell made from abundant materials. The cell achieves 9.6 percent efficiency, which is 40 percent higher than other attempts at natural solar cells.
The cell is made from copper, tin zinc, sulfur and sellenium opposed. Solar cells have been created with greater efficiency but they made with costly or rare materials that could hold back the technology.
IBM isn’t planning on manufacturing this technology itself though. It will be licensing the intellectual property related to the research to other companies who want to develop it. A full report on this breakthrough is in this week’s Advanced Materials.
via GoodCleanTech