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Every year, the Sun bathes the Earth in about 10,000 times the total energy used by all humans. Pity we don’t take better advantage.

Part of the problem is the high cost of efficient solar collectors. However a new technological breakthrough could herald a new age of solar cells that can be painted. CNet has more:

In addition to absorbing the sun’s rays more efficiently, “With this new material we can build new device structures,” said [post-doctoral researcher Zhijun] Ning in a release. The research was just published online in Nature Materials.

These dynamo dots could even be added to inks or paints. Consider the potential of brushing solar cells onto your roof: it could mean super-cheap and easy solar power for millions.

Once this technology becomes more widely understood and available, brace yourself for the onslaught of Kickstarter campaigns to paint solar power onto surfaces worldwide.

We can’t wait to hear the oil and gas lobby explain why it makes more sense to explode the ground from below and suck up fossilized plant slurry.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer

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