Super-Efficient Solar Cells

Physicist Harry Atwater is designing super efficient solar cells. Atwater works at the California Institute of Technology, his team is working on an efficient solar cell that is designed to absorb more energy from an unused spectrum of light and convert 50 percent of sunlight into electricity. This will be a major breakthrough in solar technology, the new cells will dwarf the capabilities of the current solar panels and quite possibly be the new leader in alternative energy.

Although this technology is still far too expensive to market to the general public, Atwater and his team have received numerous grants to help push this project further. There are high hopes that the new cells will eventually become a major contributor to the power grid -- these cells are strong enough that only one panel could power a whole house from only six hours of sunlight.