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LiveScience
LiveScience
Owen Hughes

Laser-blasted 'black metal' could make solar technology 15 times more efficient

Rochester researcher Chunlei Guo tests a solar thermoelectric generator (STEG) etched with femtosecond laser pulses to boost solar energy absorption and efficiency in a lab.

Scientists seeking ways to amp up the capabilities of solar power generators have discovered a method that can boost their efficiency by a factor of 15.

The breakthrough lies in a unique, laser-etched "black metal" developed by researchers over the past five years, which they now hope to use in solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs).

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