Microscopic solar generators: Sunlight-absorbing nanowires could be "painted" onto surfaces to generate low-cost solar energy to power homes and automobiles. Courtesy of Matt Law, Peidong Yang

AFTER YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, chemistry doctoral students Matt Law and Lori Greene shined a light on a cluster of 1x2-centimeter red squares, and, almost immediately, produced electricity. The jolt wasn't much at first, but after continuous efforts, they coaxed the little chips into producing an electrical current equivalent to 1.5 percent of the solar energy hitting them. That's only one-tenth the power they could have gotten from high-efficiency commercial solar panels at the hardware store. But what's important is that these tiny panels were composed of nanomaterials, made primarily of zinc oxide, the same material found in sun block. What's more, these panels produced 100 times more power than any previous solar cells made with nanomaterials.

The innovative solar panels are just one of associate chemistry professor Peidong Yang's nanowire-related projects, but he is especially excited about the prospect of what he believes will be "low-cost, environmentally benign energy conversion with reasonable efficiency." Such materials, he says, could eventually be used for solar power-capturing voltaic paint. The nanowires themselves form a matte white surface thinner than a sheet of paper.

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