A new antireflective coating developed by researchers at Rensselaer

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered, developed, and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new anti-reflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels by 96% efficiency AND allowing those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.

Solar panels convert the most light into electricity when the sun shines directly on them. Untreated silicon solar cells absorb only 67.4% of sunlight and as soon as it wanes, so does efficiency. Meaning that nearly one-third (at peak) of that sunlight is reflected away and thus unharvestable. (more…)