A new process developed at Stanford that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil.
Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels – which becomes less efficient as the temperature rises – the new process excels at higher temperatures and has the potential to surpass the efficiency of existing photovoltaic and thermal conversion technologies.
In addition, the materials needed to build a device to make the process work are cheap and easily available, meaning the power that comes from it will be affordable. The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Materials.
