Think solar not nuclear for the energy of the future, say scientists

Solar rather than nuclear energy should be the UK government’s priority in planning future energy production, according to scientists writing today in the journal Nature Materials. Challenging advocates of the nuclear option, researchers from Imperial College London argue in their Commentary article that photovoltaics, the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity, could match and exceed the nuclear industry’s current output before any new reactor could begin operating.

The next generation of photovoltaic cells, known as quantum well cells, now under development convert direct sunlight and can track the sun to keep light focussed on the cell. Early testing suggests that these concentrated systems could produce twice as much electricity per unit area as the conventional systems now in use.

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