New Zealand researchers are creating solar cells that are far less expensive than those currently available and can function in cloudy weather.

A team led by Wayne Campbell of Massey University in New Zealand has made organic dyes that can efficiently and inexpensively transform sunlight into electricity without employing the unsustainable resources used in conventional solar panels. The dyes in these new cells are based on the biological pigment porphyrin, a compound that, among other things, is a component of chlorophyll, which gives leaves their green color and transforms light energy into chemical energy.

Source: Science Illustrated, January/February 2009 issue