Researchers in Abu Dhabi have developed a device that could significantly improve the efficiency with which light is absorbed in the solar-power industry.
The aim of work at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology is to ensure that a greater range of light wavelengths are absorbed and turned into electricity.
Carlo Maragliano, a PhD student, and Dr Matteo Chiesa, associate professor of mechanical and materials science engineering, worked with a researcher in Italy to create the device.
The “spectral splitting concentrator” is, Mr Maragliano said, a combination of a prism, which separates sunlight’s various colours or wavelengths, and a lens, which concentrates light, enabling it to “harness a greater amount of energy from the sun”. Details