Innovative solutions – Solar power is in a golden age of technological innovations. Photovoltaics, the process by which the sun’s rays are converted into electrical current, was discovered in 1839, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the first silicon-based solar cells were demonstrated. Since then, the race to make solar energy more efficient and less expensive has been underway and progress has been dramatic. In the past 10 years alone, the cost per kilowatt of solar energy has fallen from dollars to cents.

Emerging technologies include pyramidal lenses, which promise to concentrate the amount of light that hits a solar cell, getting the same amount of light to hit an area a third of the size, a breakthrough that could make solar panels more efficient in indirect light conditions.

Scientists are experimenting with organic photovoltaics and perovskite solar cells, which replace silicon with more widely available compounds for cheaper manufacturing, as well as quantum solar cells which are made of microscopic semiconductor particles that can more efficiently harvest the sun’s energy.

These third-generation cells may be able to overcome the efficiency limits of contemporary solar, pointing to a future where energy is more affordable upfront, and looks radically different from the rigid panels we’ve grown accustomed to.