Photovoltaic nanoshell "whispering galleries" trap light for more efficient solar cells

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This image from a computer simulation shows how waves of light (in red/orange, traveling from the top of image to the bottom) strike a layer of nanoshells and how the light resonates within the shell structure (in red)

A scanning electron microscope image of a single layer of the nanocrystalline-silicon nanoshells

Article Summary

For those unfamiliar with the term, a “whispering gallery” is a round room designed in such a way that sound is carried around its perimeter – this allows a person standing on one side to hear words whispered by a person on the other. Now, scientists from Stanford University have developed a new type of photovoltaic material, that essentially does for sunlight what whispering galleries do for sound. Not only does the material have a structure that circulates light entering it, but it could also result in cheaper, less fragile, and less angle-sensitive solar panels.

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