Less is more for highly absorbing, flexible, cheaper solar cells

A schematic diagram of the light-trapping elements used to optimize absorption within a po...

Using arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded in a polymer substrate, a team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a new type of flexible solar cell. Promising enhanced sunlight absorption and efficient conversion of photons into electrons, the new solar cell uses only a fraction of the expensive semiconductor materials required by conventional solar cells, and because they are flexible, they will be cheaper to manufacture…

Tags: Array,
Efficiency,
Electricity,
Flexible,
Photovoltaic,
Research,
Solar