Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) established a new world efficiency record for quantum dot solar cells, at 13.4%.   Colloidal quantum dots are electronic materials and because of their small size (typically 3-20 nanometers in dimension) they possess interesting optical properties. Quantum dot solar cells emerged in 2010 as the newest technology on an NREL chart that tracks research efforts to convert sunlight to electricity with inc...