Approximately 40 percent of the solar energy reaching Earth's surface can be found in the near-infrared region of the spectrum - energy that conventional silicon-based solar cells are unable to harness.
However, a new class of all-carbon solar cell developed by MIT researchers could help tap into that unused energy, opening up the possibility of combination solar cells. Such a component could potentially incorporate both traditional silicon-based cells and the new all-carbon cells - which could make use of almost the entire range of sunlight's energy.
