Solar Cells That Emit Light Break Efficiency Record

benfrog writes "Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley say they have come up with a counter-intuitive way of making solar cells more efficient — making them emit light. In a press release the scientists claim to be the first to demonstrate that the better solar cells are at emitting photons (the more LED-like they are), the more efficient they are at generating electricity. However, 'unlike an LED, the electrons in a solar cell are absorbing photons from an exterior source as well as emitting their own.'"

Idea

[busyqth]

Why don't they just funnel the emitted light back to the solar panels and thus make them independent of an external light source?
This would be great for space colonies and sea-floor dwellings.

Re:Idea

[X0563511]

In this seafloor habitat dwelling we obey the laws of thermal dynamics!

Re:Logan's Run

[cpu6502]

There was a car?
I was too busy watching Jenny Agutter: http://i2.listal.com/image/343660/600full-jenny-agutter.jpg [listal.com] I ought to download and read the Logan's Run book sometime.

Hmph...

[PopeRatzo]

Why are these scientists wasting their time with so-called "solar cells"? Everyone knows solar energy can't possibly work. There's just not enough energy in the sun for it to be useful to us.

Fossil fuels are the result of plant life after millions of years, so they're the real "green" technology. And the sun had absolutely nothing to do with them.

These scientists, who are probably mostly foreign, want to strip us of our birthright: a personal vehicle that weight 6000 lbs. Hell, my wife, Lovey, has a couple of Escalades and she recycles all the plastic wrap that our food comes in. So who's really the "green" one?

No joke

[Memophage]

Guess I can't tell that joke about a solar-powered flashlight anymore.

Re:What's counter-intuitive about it?

[gman003]

What do you think "intuitive" means exactly?

Intuitive (adj.) - Anything I already know.

Re:Stands to reason

[Eponymous Hero]

sure, rage quit a game, throw the mic across the room and realize the plug didn't come with it, and pretty soon you're wearing headphones around the side of your head over your mouth.

Re:Idea

[geekoid]

And that's why we can't have nice things.

Re:Stands to reason

[djlowe]

Which is why we should have installed speakers in Congress years ago. Screaming politicians could generate scads of Green Energy!

I'd think that some sort of thermal conversion would be more in order. After all, Congress generates a LOT of hot air ...

Regards,

dj