Saudi Arabia receives an abundant amount of freely available solar energy every day.

And researchers such as Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) are harnessing that energy to create groundbreaking and sustainable technologies for Saudi Arabia, and the world.

The focal point of Saudi Arabia’s investment in solar energy is the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Recently, KAUST and the University of Toronto signed a first-of-its-kind licensing agreement for the rights to quantum dot solar cell technology, which has been developed by Professor Sargent, Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology.

The exclusive license conveys the rights to the University of Toronto and Professor Sargent’s research across 38 countries in the Middle East, western Asia, Russia and India.

The collaboration with U of T, as well as Penn State researchers, has produced the most efficient colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cell ever, with an energy conversion efficiency as high as 6%. Reported in the journal Nature Materials, the nanoscale semiconductors can be sprayed on to almost any surface, including plastics.

To read the full article, visit CleanTechnica.com.