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Sunlight Trapped with Si Nanowires

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BERKELEY, Calif., March 9, 2010 – A better way of trapping sunlight using silicon nanowires is behind a new approach that could dramatically reduce the costs of making photovoltaics by allowing them to be manufactured with metallurgical-grade, rather than ultrapure, silicon. Although current silicon PV technologies can convert sunlight into electricity at impressive 20 percent efficiencies, their cost is prohibitively expensive for large-scale use. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an approach that both reduces the cost of silicon solar cells and dramatically improves their...Read full article

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    Published: March 2010
    Glossary
    efficiency
    As applied to a device or machine, the ratio of total power input to the usable power output of the device.
    light
    Electromagnetic radiation detectable by the eye, ranging in wavelength from about 400 to 750 nm. In photonic applications light can be considered to cover the nonvisible portion of the spectrum which includes the ultraviolet and the infrared.
    nano
    An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
    nanotechnology
    The use of atoms, molecules and molecular-scale structures to enhance existing technology and develop new materials and devices. The goal of this technology is to manipulate atomic and molecular particles to create devices that are thousands of times smaller and faster than those of the current microtechnologies.
    photon
    A quantum of electromagnetic energy of a single mode; i.e., a single wavelength, direction and polarization. As a unit of energy, each photon equals hn, h being Planck's constant and n, the frequency of the propagating electromagnetic wave. The momentum of the photon in the direction of propagation is hn/c, c being the speed of light.
    thin film
    A thin layer of a substance deposited on an insulating base in a vacuum by a microelectronic process. Thin films are most commonly used for antireflection, achromatic beamsplitters, color filters, narrow passband filters, semitransparent mirrors, heat control filters, high reflectivity mirrors, polarizers and reflection filters.
    Basic Scienceefficiencyelectron holesenergygreengreen photonicsindustrialLawrence Berkeley National LaboratorylightLight Sourceslight-trappingmetallurgicalnanonanomechanicalnanotechnologynanowirep-n junctionPeidong Yangphotonsemiconductor nanowiressilicon photovoltaicsolarsolar cellssunlightthin filmLEDs

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