A new form of solar cell is being devised to help make solar energy commercially feasible. To make the present solar cells more than doubly efficient, a University of Idaho professor with her team are working to create better materials, combining them in new ways.
She feels that if this is successful, the new technology could help the U.S. break its dependency of oil on other countries.
According to The Lewiston Tribune, Shapiro told
People are trying to make solar cells that are more efficient… But it’s so much cheaper to use fossil fuels, despite all the obvious advantages of solar cell technology.
Having created a compound — “quantum dot” — made of elements including copper, indium and selenium; Shapiro would embed it between layers of a solar cell that would absorb energy, which otherwise goes wasted due to overheating.
