BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech researchers are working to make solar power an affordable, realistic option for homeowners.
Chemistry professor Amanda Morris said in just 90 minutes, the sun can provide enough energy to power human civilization for a year.
Her team, made up of graduate student researchers, is focusing on how to make solar power less expensive and easier to store.
“Having a technology that can provide the efficiency that is competitive with silicon, but much cheaper in cost, enables people like you and me to maybe actually think about putting solar panels on our home and so that's really what I would like. I’d like to allow people in the New River Valley to think about it and be able to make the investment where right now, it's out of their reach," Morris said.
Much of their lab work mimics the process of photosynthesis in plants to increase energy transfer.