New solar cells could expand sun power

LONDON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- British researchers are developing thin-layer solar cells that may make it less expensive to use solar energy to power homes.

Durham University scientists are using materials such as copper indium diselenide and cadmium telluride to find an affordable and more sustainable way to make solar panels to convert light energy into electricity, the university said in a news release Monday.

Thicker silicon-based cells and compounds containing indium, which is expansive and hard to find, are more commonly used to make solar panels today, the researchers said.

The thin-layer solar photovoltaic cells would be used to make solar panels that could be fitted to roofs to help power homes, with any surplus electricity being fed back to the power grid.

Solar power currently provides less than one hundredth of 1 percent of Britain's home energy needs, the report said.