Bright outlook for solar cells

Nanotechnology could transform solar cells from niche products to devices that provide a significant fraction of the world’s energy, as Edwin Cartlidge discusses

But some believe that the rise of solar energy could be far more dramatic. Crabtree and Lewis themselves estimate that the widespread use of photovoltaic cells could happen as soon as 2015 if physicists can perfect a new generation of more advanced devices built using nanotechnology.