It is hard to ignore the many news stories about rising oil prices, higher energy costs, severe weather and concerns over global climate change. The emerging consensus is that we must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and switch to cleaner forms of energy to avoid causing further damage to our planet. This view is being widely espoused across the political spectrum — even in the US — and has inspired renewed interest in alternative energy sources such as biofuels and wind, wave and solar power.

The invention of the “Bell Solar Battery” at Bell Labs in the middle of the last century was hailed as the future of electricity. But the high cost of solar cells has limited their deployment, and the promise has not been fulfilled yet...

Start a discussion on this article or any photonics topic in the Photonics.com Community Forum