Bring me sunshine

Ask any scientist to name Earth's most abundant source of energy, and the answer comes quickly: sunlight. In one hour, the Sun strikes Earth with enough energy to power the entire planet for a year. "There's nothing that compares to the Sun. Everything else pales in comparison," Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy in MIT's Department of Chemistry, says. With gas and oil prices at all-time highs, it's only logical for scientists to try to harness some of that solar energy. Three projects at America's MIT are leading research into the area, looking at mimicking photosynthesis, producing a cost-efficient solar power system and finally designs for flexible photovoltaic materials that may change the way buildings receive and distribute energy.