According to Xiaoyang Zhu, professor of chemistry conducting research studies on the mechanisms of solar energy conversion at the University of Texas at Austin, the efficiency of solar cells could increase significantly. Zhu and his colleagues found a way to double the number of electrons harvested from one solar photon simply by using organic plastic.
“Plastic semiconductor solar cell production has great advantages, one of which is low cost,” explained professor Xiaoyang Zhu. “Combined with the vast capabilities for molecular design and synthesis, our discovery opens the door to an exciting new approach for solar energy conversion, leading to much higher efficiencies.” Prefessor Zhu’s theory published on December 16th suggested that the efficiency of solar cells could increase in the following years by 50% to 100%.
The study from Austin University confirms other reports suggesting that harnessing the solar energy could be much cheaper than today’s public opinion and informed analysts seem to think. Researches on this matter hint that by 2020 the technological advances will be able to make renewable energy take its rightful place.
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