Revolutionary Breakthrough in Solar Power Technology

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Researchers at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have made a breakthrough in solar power technology that could bring cheap, clean energy to more homes. They have added a layer of material, called perovskite, capable of catching the sun’s blue light to the most common type of cell in solar energy systems, silicon cells. Silicon cells capture energy from the sun’s red light waves, with peak efficiency at between about 15% and 25% available commercially, and some cells in laboratories reaching 27%. The silicon/perovskite combo cells can operate with greater than 33% efficiency, making their sunbeam catchers the most efficient on record, according to KAUST.

KAUST professor Stefaan De Wolf has called this year a "revolutionary year" for solar energy and said that it's "very exciting". The Guardian reports that solar energy capacity reached 1.2 terawatts worldwide in 2022 (a terawatt is equal to a trillion watts and could generate about one-third of the energy needed to power the entire U.S.). However, experts say that this is not nearly enough and that to avert catastrophic scenarios associated with global warming, the total capacity needs to increase to about 75 terawatts by 2050.

This breakthrough in solar power technology is part of an enlightened time for the solar energy industry as scientists at renowned universities worldwide work to create highly efficient and low-cost solar power systems. They feel the advances could save the world from a dark, overheated fate, already being marked by rising mercury.