There is virtually an unlimited supply of energy from the sun.

However, the solar energy equipment used today can only convert a small percentage of it to useable energy.

Most of the energy is lost in the conversion process or not absorbed.

In a new project, researchers at the University of New South Wales (USNW) were the first convert over 40 percent of the sunlight absorbed by a solar system into electricity, reports Science Daily.

"The new results are based on the use of focused sunlight, and are particularly relevant to photovoltaic power towers being developed in Australia," said Martin Green, a professor and director at the UNSW Advanced Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics.

The researchers used custom made optical bandpass filters in the prototype. These filters are able to reflect particular wavelengths of light and transmit other wavelengths.

As a result, some of the sunlight that is typically not absorbed is converted to electricity.

"We used commercial solar cells, but in a new way, so these efficiency improvements are readily accessible to the solar industry," said Mark Keevers, a UNSW solar scientist and manager of the project.

The Australian company, RayGen Resources, which helped design and provided technical support for the new prototype is also developing power towers to commercialize the product.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory confirmed the efficiency achieved at their test facility in the United States.

"This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight conversion into electricity," according to Green.

In 1989, UNSW solar researchers were also the first to create a photovoltaic system that could convert sunlight to electricity with over 20 percent efficiency.

"We hope to see this home grown innovation take the next steps from prototyping to pilot scale demonstrations. Ultimately, more efficient commercial solar plants will make renewable energy cheaper, increasing its competitiveness," said Ivor Frischknecht, the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.