Hybrid solar cells

Hybrid solar cell converts both light and heat from sun's rays into electricity: "(...)researchers layered a dye-sensitized solar cell on top of a PEDOT film, which heats up in response to light. Below that, they added a pyroelectric thin film and a thermoelectric device, both of which convert heat into electricity. The efficiency of all components working together was more than 20 percent higher than the solar cell alone."

+ info: Photothermally-Activated Pyroelectric Polymer Films for Harvesting of Solar Heat with a Hybrid Energy Cell Structure, ACS Nano, Just Accepted Manuscript, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b04042