The race for inexpensive, highly efficient solar cells may have gained another contender in the form of silicon microwires. Efforts to develop ultra-thin wires that convert sunlight into electricity are not new to the solar power field, but a new method for growing the wires has roughly doubled their conversion efficiency and may hold the key for even larger gains. Silicon nanowires, or in this case slightly larger-diameter microwires, are typically grown from a silicon substrate. (source: technologyreview.com)
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