Würzburg researchers from the Bavarian initiative Solar Technologies Go Hybrid are reporting progress on the road to more efficient utilisation of solar energy: they have developed an innovative light-harvesting system.
Würzburg researchers from the Bavarian initiative Solar Technologies Go Hybrid are reporting progress on the road to more efficient utilisation of solar energy: they have developed an innovative light-harvesting system.
In order to convert sunlight into electricity or other forms of energy as efficiently as possible, the very first step is an efficient light-harvesting system. Ideally, this should be panchromatic, i.e. absorb the entire spectrum of visible light.
The light-collecting antennae of plants and bacteria are a model for this. They capture a broad spectrum of light for photosynthesis, but are very complex in structure and require many different dyes to transmit the energy of the absorbed light and focus it on a central point.
Read more at University of Würzburg
