A new type of panel that an MU professor helped develop could make collecting solar energy much easier and make other technical processes more energy efficient. The panels are paper thin and have tiny antennas embedded in them. They capture energy from 90% of the light spectrum, compared to current photovoltaic panels that only capture about a third of the spectrum.
“This isn’t evolutionary, it’s revolutionary,” MU chemical engineering professor Patrick Pinhero told the Kansas City Star. “Ten years out I think we replace photovoltaics.”
The Star reports that the panels applications could include generating energy through industrial processes by using them to gather wasted energy that would otherwise be lost.
Reviewed 2013-02-18