The latest news in one of the two areas — cost in this case — solar needs to continue to see improvement for widespread use.
From the link:
A simple chemical treatment could replace expensive antireflective solar cell coatings, bringing down the cost of crystalline silicon panels. The treatment, a one-step dip in a chemical bath, creates a highly antireflective layer of black silicon on the surface of silicon wafers, and it would cost just pennies per watt, say researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). They’ve used it to create black silicon solar cells that match the efficiency of conventional silicon cells on the market.
Solar goes black: These two solar cells were fabricated on a silicon wafer treated to create an antireflective black silicon surface. The silvery areas around the cells are a different color because the highly absorbent black layer has been etched away.
Credit: Hao-Chih Yuan
