Coated solar cells promise paradigm shift in photovoltaics

Dye-sensitized solar cells are not an entirely new technology. By coating standard semiconductors in photovoltaic cells, researchers are able to increase the amount of electricity harnessed from incoming sunlight. The process has always been difficult, though, and has involved expensive and hard-to-obtain materials. Researchers in Switzerland have demonstrated that a much more common coating, a zinc-based compound, exhibits "surprisingly good efficiencies," recently publishing their results and process in the journal Chemical Communications.