Solar collecting paint

By Landon

Two researchers in the UK, David Worsley and Maarten Wijdekop, have come up with a paint that can produce electricity by gathering energy from the sun.The paint is planned to be based on dye-sensitized solar cells. Instead of absorbing sunlight using silicon like conventional solar panels,they attatch dye molecules to particles of the titanium dioxide pigment used in paints. This combination gives an energetic boost to the electrons, which go from the dye to a layer of electrolyte. The electrolyte then transfers the extra energy into a collecting circuit, before the electrons cycle around back to the dye. This paint isn't very effective compared to the conventional solar panels, but it is much cheaper than purchasing most expensive silicon.