Transparent photovoltaics

When UCLA researcher Yang Yang looks out a window, he sees opportunity. Yang's focus isn't on what's beyond the window, but the window itself -- particularly its potential for energy production. Yang is a professor of materials science and engineering, and his team recently created a photovoltaic plastic that is more than 70% transparent to the human eye. Though the idea of a transparent solar collector seems almost counter-productive, the secret is transparency to only certain...