Solar electricity is continually dropping in price, and the solar industry is doubling in size every 20 months. It is predicted that in some markets, the price of solar electricity will be the same as conventional electricity within a few years. This presentation will give an overview of solar electricity worldwide and a summary of the latest research on using nanotechnology to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of solar cells.
Kylie Catchpole is a Research Fellow at the Australian National University. She has published over 50 papers and her work on has been featured in the news sections of Science magazine and The Economist. In 2010, her work was listed as one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 most important emerging technologies. Currently she leads the nanophotonics group in the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems at ANU.