At University of California Riverside, they think they have a technology that can make a panel produce more energy. A new coating can pick up the infrared part of the light spectrum. This normally passes right through a panel.
The coating reshapes the light spectrum to what the solar panel can pick up. It contains cadmium selenide or lead selenide semiconductor nanocrystals and organic molecules. These simply do what they call “upconverting,” or changing photons so panels readily absorb them.
Besides improving panels, they could improve biological imaging, data storage, or even organic light emitting diodes.