http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1329/
The above is a neat link I found while searching around today on my usual news blogs. Seems some researches have developed a new way to capture solar energy that may prove to be as much as 80% efficient. Now, if they can come up with a way to actually make that power usable, I will be very impressed. It works by capturing IR light on nano-antennas. They think that if they just add some nano-capacitors to the thing that they will actually be able to convert the electricity being generating into something that is actually usable.
I personally can't wait to see these progress, if they actually work like they say they should, solar powered cars are no longer that far fetched, especially since not only do these still produce power at night, they are on a flexible material, like a cloth.