As far as elements go, silicon is second only to oxygen when it comes to abundance on Earth. For this and its properties as a semiconductor it has long been the backbone of electronics. The material is in everything from computer chips to radios. It’s the namesake, after all, of the modern tech industry’s hub in California, Silicon Valley.
Speaking of the sunny tech capital, silicon is the primary element used in solar panels. Three scientists at New Jersey’s Bell Telephone Company patented the very first silicon solar cell—the first solar cell to be considered practical, with its ability to convert 6 percent of incoming light into usable electricity—in the 1950s. The material has dominated the solar market ever since. Today, more than 90 percent of panels produced worldwide are crystalline silicon PV panels.
Silicon has earned so much status and market influence, with little competition in the solar space, that few know there are other options for solar.
Perovskites, or crystalline structures, are a new type of solar cell, made of common elements such as methylammonium lead iodide. Perovskites are easier to manufacture, and have the potential to convert sunlight to electricity at a greater rate than silicon cells. The challenge is that perovskites are extremely fragile.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/these-new-solar-cells-are-modeled-after-flys-eye-180964911/#jYMAkv4eiEDbBMKU.99
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Read more > These New Solar Cells Are Modeled After a Fly’s Eye
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