Researchers from MIT, Zhejiang University, Taiyuan University and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign are some of the first developing new ways to use metamaterials for solar panels to capture a wide range of light. This newest design of panels uses a pattern of wedge shaped ridges which can then capture light at a wide range of wavelengths and angles of incidence. In other words- no light goes unused- this new design has an efficiency of almost 95%.
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| credit: Yanzia Cui, MIT |
Metamaterials are extremely thin, which reduces the weight and cost of the panels, and this new design is easily created using standard photovoltaic cell manufacturing equipment. Researchers hope to use this discovery to create an extremely high efficiency solar cells or optical sensors. Check out MIT's news to learn more about the science behind this new design. It will also be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal Nano Letters. But you can find a preliminary version of the paper here.
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