Researchers from MIT and Princeton have devised a method of adding several percentage points to the maximum efficiency of a silicon solar cell beyond the current 29.1 % limit to a potential 50 % . The research was supported as part of the MIT Center for Excitonics, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. They used a method that creates two electrons from each photon rather than the conventional one . The method had already been tried out using an organic photovoltaic cell but the researchers have now extended the process to a solar cell . The key to the development is an intermediate layer in the cell made from hafnium oxynitride . The researchers said more development work was needed .
Researchers from MIT and Princeton have devised a method of adding several percentage points to the maximum efficiency of a silicon solar cell beyond the current 29.1 % limit to a potential 50 % . They used a method that creates two electrons from each photon rather than the conventional one . The method had already been tried out using an organic photovoltaic cell but the researchers have now extended the process to a solar cell . The key to the development is an intermediate layer in the cell made from hafnium oxynitride . The researchers said more development work was needed .