Increasing the amount of electricity a solar panel produces is
one of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of solar
power. MIT’s Technology Review reports on a new $2.4 million
project funded by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for
Energy aims to greatly increase the amount of sunlight that
becomes electricity. Harry Atwater, a professor of applied
physics and materials science at Caltech, is working on cells to
sort sunlight into eight to 10 different colors (a rainbow!) and
direct those to a second layer that contains an array of solar
cells matched to each color. Light is absorbed more efficiently,
and more energy is converted to electricity, rather ...read more