Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have revolutionized residential solar energy by introducing a transparent solar concentrator. Currently, the concentrators have an energy efficiency of about one percent, though researchers are confident that five percent will be possible in the near future. Non-transparent concentrators currently have maximum energy efficiency around seven percent. But how do the transparent concentrators work? To understand how the new concentrators work, one must first understand how solar panels work. Opaque solar panels absorb photons from sunlight and convert them to electrons, making electricity. In the past, genuinely transparent solar panels have been impossible to create,…