Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have invented a simple "solar concentrator" that gathers sunlight over a large area and channels the energy to photovoltaic cells at the edges. The system, reported in Science, is based on glass panels coated with dyes that absorb light across a range of wavelengths.

The MIT researchers say their new organic solar concentrators (OSCs) could make photovoltaic cells 10 times more powerful than they are today. They avoid the expensive and elaborate systems used in current solar power stations to track the sun, with large mobile mirrors. In buildings, OSCs might be used as tinted roof lights, illuminating rooms as well as providing electric power.