THE future is looking cloudy for solar energy—literally. Pollutants in
the air produced by burning fossil fuels could be making solar cells up to 60
per cent less efficient.
Scientists at the University of Tehran in Iran were trying to find the best
tilt angle for solar arrays to maximise their output. But Ebrahim Asl-Soleimani
and his team found that the lowest energy output coincided with days when air
pollution was highest. When air pollution in the capital was low, each solar
array churned out 179 watt-hours per day. But on one particularly polluted day,
they report, the same…
