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A great deal of the light that falls on solar cell panels does little to generate electricity, with a high percentage bouncing off pointlessly.  Princeton researchers have confronted this issue with a layered assembly, otherwise known as a subwavelength  plasmonic cavity. Developed by Princeton University researcher Stephen Chou and a team of scientists, the cavity dampens reflections and traps light.  According to Princeton’s announcement, “The new technique allowed Chou’s team to create a solar cell that only reflects about 4 percent of light and absorbs as much as 96 percent. It demonstrates 52 percent higher efficiency in converting [direct] light to electrical energy than a conventional solar cell.” Overall, the team was able to increase solar cell efficiency a total …