AltEnToday

East Coast, Ivy-League schools have never been known for sitting on the sidelines during transitional periods in America’s economy - and today’s energy marketplace is no exception. Reported by the Boston Globe was some interesting developments coming out of MIT’s various research laboratories that may lead to dramatic improvements in solar technology and efficiency.

One of the most intriguing pieces of news in the article comes from Lux Research Inc, which states that they expect the solar industry to grow at 30% per year and will exceed $71 billion by 2012. This means stupendous growth within the entire industry, and will likely push the solar contribution over that 1% total mix mark in the next 4 years.

Within MIT, several groups are working feverishly on new technological developments. Perhaps one of the most exciting developments are new solar concentrators that focus specific spectrum of light on the edges of solar panels (or any other window) to provide light through the system yet power photovoltaic generators. It appears that this technology is only a few years away, and may be able to boost existing panel performance by up to 50%.