Quantum dot research breakthrough will make solar-energy-generating windows a reality

Soon, conventional-looking windows for homes and automobiles will begin soaking in the sun for the betterment of mankind, thanks to the efforts of researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Milano-Bicocca. Very recently, these brainiacs had a breakthrough in quantum dot research that will make it easier for transparent glass windows to generate solar power. For those who don’t know what quantum dots are, these nanocrystals made of semiconductor materials are used in solar panels to increase efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs of typical photovoltaic cells.

“The key accomplishment is the demonstration of large-area luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) that use a new generation of specially engineered quantum dots,” says Victor Klimov, lead researcher at the Centre of Advanced Solar Photophysics at Los Alamos. A development like these will mean more energy-efficient solar-energy-generating windows that will also cost significantly lesser.

[Via – Ibtimes]