SYDNEY, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia are working towards a new generation of solar technology by utilizing a process called singlet fission, which can double the electrical output from sunlight.
Singlet fission is a process where a single particle of light, a photon, can be split into two packets of energy, effectively doubling the electrical output when applied to technologies harnessing the sun, according to a statement released Friday by Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW).
The UNSW team showed how this works on an organic material that could one day be mass-produced specifically for use with solar panels to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient, it said.
"A lot of the energy from light in a solar cell is wasted as heat, which itself is also a form of energy. We're finding ways to take that wasted energy and turn it into more electricity instead," said Ben Carwithen, a postdoctoral researcher at UNSW's School of Chemistry.
Most of today's solar panels are made from silicon, converting about 27 percent of sunlight into electricity, with a theoretical maximum efficiency of about 29.4 percent, researchers said.
Singlet fission could boost solar efficiency beyond 30 percent, with a theoretical limit around 45 percent, far above current technology, according to the study by the UNSW team. ■
