Researchers at Israel's Technion developed a new technology that could improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells by nearly 70 percent.

Solar panels have been around for decades, but researchers are still trying to develop affordable double-sided panels – able to capture both direct and reflected sunlight. Israeli startup bSolar says it has developed bifacial solar panels that can boost energy yield by up to 50 percent.

Solar cells that use inorganic nanocrystals or "quantum dots" could be a cheaper alternative, but they are generally less efficient at turning solar energy into electricity. Technion researchers have now found a new way to generate an electrical field inside quantum dots, making them more suitable for building an energy-efficient solar cell.