Recent research has found that high frequency sounds can improve solar cell efficiency, suggesting photo-voltaics enjoy guitar solos as much as the rest of us.

Engineers at Queen Mary University of London and the Imperial College London were investigating the effects of sound waves on solar cells imbedded with billions of zinc oxide nano-rods.

Their basic aim was to find if there is a similar improvement in solar cell efficiency from sound, analogous to the piezoelectric effect’s improvements from increased strain and pressure.

The team has shown that sound levels as low as 75 decibels (equivalent to the noise of an office printer or loud toilet flush) could improve the solar cell performance significantly. An even more interesting outcome arrived when the researchers tested pop music as a source of sound rather than classical arrangements.

It turns out solar cells particularly like the groove of higher frequencies present in modern music.

The development could lead to an entirely new energy system which turns soundwaves into electricity.

It could be attached to existing sources of noise, such as a car or air-conditioner, to boost the supply or output by reining otherwise extraneous sounds.

Full details of the study have been published online.