Newly discovered properties of light promise better solar batteries, really great tans

Are you tired of waking up to the same old semiconductor-based solar array? Do you yearn for a change? We know you do and, thanks again to the wonder and mystery of magnetic fields (they’re not just for stopping speech anymore), there’s a new day dawning. University of Michigan scientists were shooting lasers at glass, as they do, and made a remarkable discovery: light passing through a non-conductive surface like glass generates impressive magnetic effects – up to 100 million times greater than expected. The resulting magnetic force could replace the electric effect exploited by current technology, paving the way for “optical batteries.” Though different from the Wysips transparent photovoltaic cell , the technology could have similar applications and may render obsolete those massive solar farms . No need to worry, though — your stylish solar backpack is as fly as it ever was. Newly discovered properties of light promise better solar batteries, really great tans originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink