New nanoparticle could help solar panels convert unseen light into energy
April 23 (UPI) -- Scientists have developed a new nanoparticle that can absorb near-infrared light and reemit it as visible light, which could allow solar panels to convert unseen light into usable energy.Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory coated tiny particles in organic dyes. The dyes work like antennae, which allowed scientists to fine-tune the nanoparticle's light-converting properties."These organic dyes capture broad swaths of near-infrared light," Bruce Cohen, a scientist at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, said in a news release.Most solar technologies that focus on visible light fail to absorb near-infrared light, allowing a solid chunk of the solar spectrum to go to waste. Roughly 44 percent of all light that hits Earth's surface...