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>> Sumi: Solar panels installed on rooftops have become a common sight, yet while they're well-positioned to utilize the sun's rays energy still goes wasted. But in the future solar cells may take on different forms and be far more efficient.
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>> Sumi: Every second the sun releases 5 million tons of energy, of course most of it goes untapped. But researchers around the world are striving to capture more of that precious power.
>> Nick: What's going on here, right?
>> Sumi: At Stanford University engineer, Nick Milosh assumed spelling leads a research group that's developed a new solar conversion process called photon enhanced thermionic phonetic spelling emission or PETE. The researchers used this vacuum chamber to test materials for the process. Traditional photovoltaic cells, which can't convert heat directly from sunlight, have an efficiency rate of about 20%. But by using the sun's light and heat PETE could boost that significantly up to 30%.
>> Nick: It really uses the energy coming from the sun twice, so the idea is that the sun comes in, you absorb it and then you use that just like a photovoltaic would, and so you get some electricity out directly. But all the waste heat that is generated now goes to a thermal conversion system where it tries to convert some of that energy again.
>> Sumi: Milosh calls it a 2 for 1.
>> Nick: Well we think that with a reasonable cost of a few thousand dollars per wafer and then integrating it with existing systems you could get inline with the same costs for natural gas electrical production.
>> Sumi: Since PETE works best at extremely high temperatures it's unlikely to pop up on roofs but rather for large scale power generation such as solar farms in the desert. Milosh hopes that in a couple of years the research will make it out of the lab and into the sun. Other scientists are looking to windows to help get off the grid. England based Oxford PV has developed a way to print organic solar cells right on to glass that could be used in residential or commercial construction. No silicone here instead a die sensitive cell mimics photosynthesis to generate electricity it's one way to incorporate solar energy into buildings without the hassle of adding solar panels. And at the University of South Florida researchers are moving beyond solar installations to spray cans; they developed a coating that can be sprayed on to surfaces to create solar panels.
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>> Sumi: The future of solar cells powering the way to greener energy. For ZD NET I'm Sumi Das.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
