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Monday, 3rd November 2008 (790 views)

Gold has been used in ground-breaking research into solar energy in Germany.

A team from the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems has broken its own record for the efficiency of multi-junction solar cell.

The previous level of 37.6 per cent was exceeded in the latest study, in which a cell featuring gold nanowires achieved an efficiency of 39.7 per cent.

Researcher Frank Dimroth said: "We have improved the contact structures of our solar cells … as a result we now achieve the higher efficiency when converting sunlight into energy."

It is hoped that the breakthrough can contribute to improved devices to be used in solar power stations.

Dr Andreas Bett, the head of the department that carried out the study, stated that the "young" technology could help to lower the cost of generating electricity from the sun in the future.

Recently, the potential of nanotechnology for green energy applications was discussed at the Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy conference, organised by the European Science Foundation.

 

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