Excitonics

MIT researchers have developed a new method for potentially increasing solar cell efficiency beyond the theoretical limit, reports Daniel Oberhaus for Wired. “What’s cool here is that this is a fundamentally different approach from traditional photovoltaics,” says Joseph Berry of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

MIT researchers have engineered viruses that take advantage of quantum physics, mimicking the process of photosynthesis, to enhance energy transfer, reports Alexandra Ossola for Popular Science. The work could result in “solar panels that transmit energy with unprecedented efficiency,” writes Ossola.