Steel forged railroads, skyscrapers and the automobile industry. Now it may help solar energy become cheaper and more widely available. Scientists now report an advance in replacing the single most expensive component of a cutting-edge family of solar cells with less costly material. These so-called “nanostructured dye solar cells (DSCs)” are a relatively new family of photovoltaic devices. Their simple manufacturing methods are hoped to lead to lower production costs compared to conventional solar cells. Traditionally, DSCs are deposited on conductively coated glass sheets which accounts for more than 30 percent of the material costs.