eli5: Do solar panels only work with sunlight, or can they be tuned to capture energy from other wavelengths outside the visible spectrum?

Question

eli5: Do solar panels only work with sunlight, or can they be tuned to capture energy from other wavelengths outside the visible spectrum?

In: 2876

Answer 1

Ah, something I can answer. There is currently research going into capturing the infrared light that others have mentioned. It’s a process called photon up-conversion. Infrared photons are not energetic enough to induce a flow of electrons, but if they can be combined chemically and electronically into higher energy states, then they can be used to generate electricity.
Research is going into discovering molecules that can achieve such feats and how they can be applied and integrated into photovoltaics.