Chemist Pam Shapiro and her colleagues from the University of Idaho are in the process of devising a new form of solar cell that would improve the commercial feasibility of solar cell systems. According to Shapiro in her interview with The Lewiston Tribune:

"People are trying to make solar cells that are more efficient," But it's so much cheaper to use fossil fuels, despite all the obvious advantages of solar cell technology."

The solar cells that she and her team are developing are based on quantum dots, which are a combination of the elements copper, indium, and selenium. When embedded between layers of a solar cell, these quantum dots absorb energy that is otherwise wasted due to over heating.
Read more about this development here.