Sydney, Aug 27 - Solar cell researchers have established a new benchmark in converting 43 percent of solar power into energy, the highest ever by any group globally, thanks to a new approach.

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) team, led by Martin Green, a professor, combined with two US groups to demonstrate a multi-cell combination setting a new benchmark for converting sunlight into energy.

'Because sunlight is made up of many colours of different energy, ranging from the high energy ultraviolet to the low energy infrared, a combination of solar cells of different materials can convert sunlight more efficiently than any single cell,' Green said.

Green, with colleague Anita Ho-Baillie, led the team that developed a silicon cell optimised to capture light at the red and near-infrared end of the spectrum. That cell was able to convert up to 46 percent of light into electricity, said a UNSW release.

When combined with four other cells, each optimised for different parts of the solar spectrum, the five-cell combination converted 43 percent of the sunlight into electricity.