TOKYO, Sept. 10, 2007 -- Osaka University and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are developing a way to convert sunlight into laser light, Japan's Nikkei news service has reported. The technology reportedly will boost the design of solar power systems that will one day collect sunlight in space and convert it to laser energy, then to electricity for our use on Earth.

The new device converts sunlight with an efficiency four times greater than previous attempts, Nikkei reported. Sunlight is collected and kept as energy in a plate made of a sintered powder of metals such as chromium and neodymium, it said.

If weak laser light hits the plate, the energy already kept in the plate is transferred to the laser light and boosts its strength. Using a 0.5-W laser, the power was able to be amplified to 180 W.

Previous attempts to convert solar to laser light energy have yielded about a 10-percent transfer rate. The new technology converted 40 percent of solar energy, Nikkei said

For more information, visit: www.jaxa.jp