New designs and approaches to solar are coming out weekly, but scientists have yet to attain the holy grail of 50 percent efficiency. Solar cells typically convert about 15 to 25 percent of the energy from sunlight into electricity—though 44.7 percent efficiency has been achieved in labs. A company from North Carolina called Semprius has come up with a way to stack solar cells that will lead to the 50 percent efficiency scientists are looking for. Semprius’ design uses tiny solar cells, just millimeters in diameter, to reduce cost of cooling and increase efficiency. Semprius then stacks semiconducting materials, up to three, on top of a fourth solar cell. This design has been able to reach 44.1 percent efficiency. Semprius says that 50 percent efficiency will be achieved in the next five years.
Stacked solar cells make solar power cheaper than natural gas
More of Today's Solutions
Scientists build first fully human bone marrow model to revolutionize blood d...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a transformative leap for regenerative medicine, scientists have developed the first entirely human-engineered bone marrow system. This ...
Read More7 cold and flu season mistakes doctors want you to quit making
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You’ve heard the warnings: cold and flu season is no joke. But despite our best intentions (and fully ...
Read MoreThree ways we can repurpose closed department stores
40 percent of US department stores have closed their doors in the past five years, but the question remains: what do we do with ...
Read MoreHubble takes beautiful image of galaxies “dancing”
The Hubble Space Telescope ventured into space over three decades ago in 1990, and has observed around 50,000 celestial bodies to date. During this ...
Read More
