Size Matters: Smaller Particles Could Make Solar Panels More Efficient- All Images

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News Release 11-058

Size Matters: Smaller Particles Could Make Solar Panels More Efficient

Researchers study quantum dots to increase the amount of electricity solar panels produce

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multiple-exciton generation, which suggests one exciton can produce multiple excitons.

Illustration of multiple-exciton generation (MEG), a theory that suggests it is possible for an electron that has absorbed light energy, called an exciton, to transfer that energy to more than one electron, resulting in more electricity from the same amount of absorbed light. The left side shows an electron promoted to a high energy state (blue) plus the "hole" vacated by the electron (red). The right side shows the original exciton (now dark green/red) and a new exciton (light green/orange) after MEG. The top image shows a conceptualized version of the idea, while the bottom shows an actual exciton and bi-exciton using the same color scheme.

Credit: Mark T. Lusk, Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines

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