Here are reports on two potential big improvements in solar power collection.
Nanometer sized antennas could convert a much wider range of the solar spectrum into useful electric power than conventional solar cells (via CitizensInSpace.org):
- UConn Professor’s Patented Technique Key to New Solar Power Technology – UConn Today
- New Nanoscale Antennas Could Boost Solar Energy Harvesting Efficiency to 70% – Txchonologist
And a new paper in Science reports on a technique to hurdle over a fundamental barrier to the efficiency of photons creating free electrons in solar cells: New solar cell coating could boost efficiency – R&D Magazine.