Who is still skeptic about solar energy?

Dear Readers,

I perfectly remember when some years ago, talking with a professor at my university I asked him which was the efficiency of a solar cell. His answer was straight away: theoretically, 25%.

Nowadays, thanks to two different research groups, the efficiency of the solar cell might be dramatically increased.
The two independent and separated researches have been carried out in:

• The Netherlands, at the TU Delft, by Prof. Laurens Siebbeles' group.
• in the USA, at the M.I.T. in Boston, by Prof. Marc Baldo's group
  

The first investigation (see figure above), proved that the efficiency of a solar cell might be, from a theoretical point of view, double by exploiting the so-called avalanche effect, which generates, under particular conditions, from one received photon more than one electron.


The second research analyses instead an innovative way to trap the solar light into a material in order to improve the efficiency of a solar panel.
The technique (displayed in figure aside) uses transparent dyes to capture, concentrate and finally redirect light along the surface of the glass to photovoltaic cells in the frame, which convert the light into electricity. This last technique seems promising from a cost-production point of view.

Clearly, these two represent important steps to increase the efficiency of solar panels, and to strengthen the position of who wants to finally get rid off the oil consumption by implementing renewable source of energy.

best wishes,
Antonio