Some like it cool. Or, why solar works better when it's not so hot

For some reason, many of us civilians tend to associate solar power with bright sunshiney states like Arizona, California and Florida. But did you know that solar technology actually gets less efficient the hotter it gets?

That's the thread of a new article published in the Nature Materials journal and discussed by intelligent energy expert Melissa Mahony over on our Smart Planet sister site.

Think of the blazing sunlight reflecting off snow and you'll understand why places like Alaska (which I featured in this blog about a school using solar panels on its walls instead of the roof) should start rethinking the possibilities of which renewable energy options might be best suite to their climate.