Michael Grätzel's Solar Cells Get Stylish With Color and Translucent Materials

Michael Grätzel may be the closest thing to a living legend in the solar energy world. A professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the Swiss scientist discovered a new type of thin-film solar cell--dubbed the dye-sensitized solar cell (aka the Grätzel cell)--in 1991. Now, nearly two decades later, Grätzel's invention is taking off, with companies like Konarka, Hydrogen Solar, and Sony developing the cells for commercial use.

Grätzel's cells, which are inspired by the...