Lawrence Livermore Lab develops 'black metals' for better solar power

[jpak]

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2013/07/30/lawrence-livermore-lab-develops-black.html

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that specially crafted "plasmonic black metals" could someday make photovoltaic solar power panels more efficient.

These so-called "black metals" are roughened at a nanoscale level, so they trap light by multiple reflections, which should increase absorption of solar energy. The idea arose from a similar "black silicon" concept designed to help silicon trap more wavelengths in the full spectrum of sunlight.

When black metals are made using a similar nanoscale roughening process, they don't automatically absorb sunlight more efficiently. But a team at the lab led by Tiziana Bond found a way to improve the roughening, creating "nanopillars" that trap and absorb more wavelengths of light.

The team's research was published in the technical journal Applied Physics Letters. Mihail Bora, of the lab's materials engineering division, was the lead author.

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Real scientists.

yup

[BlueToTheBone]

1. We're inching into the 21st century while the pukes are trying

to drag us back to the 1800s.

THanks for the article.

[kristopher]

2. I wonder if this is an outgrowth of stealth aircraft technology? nt