Video on Transparent Solar Cells Semi-Finalist in Competition

November 19, 2012

In the summer, UCLA researchers announced they had developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside.

"These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics and in other applications," said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering, who also is director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).

"We are excited by this new invention on transparent solar cells, which applied our recent advances in transparent conducting windows to fabricate these devices," said Paul S.Weiss, CNSI director and Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences.

Now a video about the initiative -- "Catching the Invisible Light" -- is a semifinalist in the $200,000 FOCUS FORWARD Filmmaker Competition and is in the running to become the competition's $100,000 Grand Prize Winner. The competition is inspiring a series of 30 three-minute stories about innovative people who are reshaping the world through act or invention, directed by celebrated documentary filmmakers. The winner of the competition will be decided by popular vote. To vote for the video above, click on the "Vote" symbol on the player.