Nanostructures and methods for manufacturing the same

A solar cell comprising:

• an electrically conducting substrate;
• a plurality of nanowhiskers extending from said substrate, each nanowhisker having a column with a diameter of nanometer dimension, the column comprising a first p-doped semiconductor lengthwise segment and a second n-doped semiconductor lengthwise segment, said first and second semiconductor segments having an interface therebetween forming a p-n junction,
• sides of the first and second semiconductor segments of the nanowhiskers being encapsulated in a transparent plastic material;
• and
• a transparent electrode extending over free ends of the whiskers and making electrical contact therewith,
• wherein each nanowhisker comprises a plurality of lengthwise p-n junction semiconductor segments, said semiconductor segments being selected to form a plurality of p-n junctions that absorb a plurality of different wavelengths of solar radiation.