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Transport properties

Transport properties

A new type of solar cell

04 Nov 2004 Isabelle Dumé

Scientists in Japan have made the first device that can convert solar energy into electricity and then store the resulting electric charge. The "photocapacitor" designed by Tsutomu Miyasaka and Takurou Murakami at Toin University in Yokohama could be used to power mobile phones and other hand-held devices (Appl. Phys. Lett. 85 3932).

Sandwich photocapacitor
Conventional solar cells need a secondary device, such as a battery, to store the electrical power g

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