When are people going to stop announcing vapor-ware and produce something that the public can buy.

s Michael
I think this was just a research finding, not an actual product.

Yablonovitch is not a vapor-ware seller, he is a very sound physicist who has already published several fundamental papers in optics/photovoltaics. Maybe some of you have heard about the 4n^2 law, which states that the maximum energy density one could ever achieve in an optical medium is proportional to the square of the index of refraction of the medium (n^2). Well, this is one of Yablonovitch's contribution to solar cells. Just to say, even if the "LED-type" seems counterintuitive, I would not be surprised that Yablonovitch has just made a new beautiful contribution to our understanding of the photovoltaic conversion phenomena.

What I think S Michael means is that we keep reading about higher and higher efficiency products but this does not translate in affordable products we can use.

There is always a time gap before a result of a scientific research can be applied in mass production. There are lot of technological problems to solve. Especially, if some industry leaders have another interests.

Still waiting for my mr. Fusion, this does however greatly enhance the understanding of photovoltaics. I pray i can hand my son a world of tron like power so he can concentrate on better things than survival

it seems like every month we hear of some new development in PV technology, higher efficiency, cheaper manufacturing, less costly materials, etc.... current PV products have an efficiency of... what, 20%? i think it'll need at least another 10% before solar power really takes off, but that probably will not be for another ten years.

Nice stuff. While other groups are trying to squeeze an extra 2% from Mono-C solar cells, this guy is breaking new ground.
The nay-sayers will be left with behind with their heads in the sand and their certainty intact.

... regardless of the nay-sayers, I want to thank you Professor Yablonovitch and Owen Miller for your success, on behalf of my grandson... truly a great achievement. Pure genius IMHO

Suddenly! It's 1940! "Let there be light" by Robert A. Heinlein, writing as Lyle Monroe.
RAH used many pen names so it wouldn't look like he was writing nearly half the stories in the pulp magazines - which he was. ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_There_Be_Light_(short_story)
It's a story about solid-state light emitting panels that can also convert light into electricity.
Yablonovitch-Miller doesn't have the same ring to it as Douglas-Martin. ;)