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Researchers claim solar efficiency breakthrough for flexible 'skin'
Engineers at the University of Queensland say technology could be used to power small devices, such as a phone, within two years
A flexible solar "skin" that could be used to generate power on homes, cars and phones is a step closer to development after the technology was used to break a world record for electricity conversion, researchers say.
Engineers at the University of Queensland have been working with nanoparticles known as quantum dots that pass electrons and generate an electrical current when exposed to solar energy.
The dots can be printed on flexible sheets that have the potential to be used as a transparent skin to power devices including mobile phones and electric vehicles, and applied to windows and other surfaces.
Lianzhou Wang, an Australian Research Council laureate fellow in materials engineering, and a team of researchers have broken the world record for the conversion of solar energy into electricity using these quantum dots.
The previous record efficiency for converting sunshine into electricity using quantum dot solar cells was 13.4%. The university said Wang and his team had increased that to 16.6%. It has been recognised as a record by the US National Energy Research Laboratory.
Wang said the improvement of nearly 25% was a significant step towards the technology becoming commercially viable and supporting global efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
"It is effectively the difference between quantum dot solar cell technology being an exciting prospect and being commercially viable," he said.
Wang said advantages of the technology compared to traditional solar cell technology included it being lightweight, flexible and able to work
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