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Scientists at UNSW Sydney have developed a breakthrough technique that could significantly boost the efficiency of silicon solar panels by using a process called singlet fission. This method allows a single photon of sunlight to be split into two packets of energy, potentially doubling the electrical output from the same amount of light. Traditional silicon panels convert about 27 percent of sunlight into electricity, with a theoretical limit near 29.4 percent, largely due to energy lost as heat. The UNSW team discovered that an organic compound called DPND (dipyrrolonaphthyridinedione) can perform singlet fission while remaining stable under outdoor conditions, overcoming previous limitations seen with materials like tetracene. The research builds on over a decade of work led by Professor Tim Schmidt, who first used magnetic fields to understand the molecular mechanisms of singlet fission. By adding an ultra-thin organic layer of DPND on top of conventional silicon cells, the team demonstrated a practical way to harness excess energy