New Solar Panels Get Their Power From Light We Can’t See

Researchers at MIT have captured he near-infrared part of the solar spectrum.  Their first "all-carbon" solar cells, reported in Advance Materials this month, uses carbon instead of silicon as the primary material. The cells work by employing carbon nanotubes and C60--also known as buckyballs--to turn infrared light into an electric current.

There is a lot of the light spectrum that doesn’t register to the human eye (or to conventional solar panels). A new device which could go right on top of existing panels, helps get more of the energy from the sun.

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