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Efficiency boost makes solar cells more affordable
May 03, 2007Solar energy could become more affordable following a breakthrough by UNSW scientists, who have boosted the efficiency of solar cell technology.
The advance could see the price of an installed solar system for an average house fall from around $20,000 to $15,000. Up to 45 percent of the cost of solar cell technology is due to the high cost of the silicon used to convert sunlight to electricity.
Silicon is the material of choice in the electronics industry because of its stability, non-toxicity and ubiquity. However, silicon is a poor absorber of light. In a bid to drive down costs, scientists have moved from using expensive thick silicon "wafers" to cheaper "thin film" cells, containing less silicon.
The disadvantage of these one-to-two micron-thick films is that they convert only eight to 10 percent of incoming sunlight into electricity, compared to the 25 percent efficiency of thicker, more expensive, silicon wafers. Scientists around the world are testing new ways to boost the efficiency of thin film technology, while keeping down costs.
Now, researchers at UNSW's ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, led by PhD student Supriya Pillai have reported a 16-fold enhancement in light absorption in 1.25-micron thin-film cells for light with a wavelength of 1050 nm. They have also reported a seven-fold enhancement in light absorption in the more expensive wafer type cells light wavelengths of 1200 nm.
"Most thin-film solar cells are between eight and 10 percent efficient," says Dr Kylie Catchpole, a co-author of the study, "but the new technique could increase efficiency to between 13 and 15 percent."
That's an important advance, she says: "If they're below 10 percent efficient, then you can't really afford to install them, because it would take up too much of your roof area, for example, to power your house." Once the technology approaches 15 per cent efficiency, it becomes commercially viable.
An average house could have its daily power supplied by installing a solar system and panels covering 10 square metres. This system would exclude power for cooking and hot water heating.
The breakthrough, which is reported in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Applied Physics, could eventually see a dramatic rise in solar power's share of the electricity market. Currently only 30,000 Australian households - out of 8 million - have installed solar panels.
The UNSW researchers have devised a way to deposit a thin film of silver (about 10 nanometres thick) onto a solar cell surface and then heat it to 200° Celsius. This breaks the film into tiny 100-nanometre "islands" of silver that boost the cell's light trapping ability, thereby boosting its efficiency.
The University of New South Wales
The disadvantage of these one-to-two micron-thick films is that they convert only eight to 10 percent of incoming sunlight into electricity, compared to the 25 percent efficiency of thicker, more expensive, silicon wafers. Scientists around the world are testing new ways to boost the efficiency of thin film technology, while keeping down costs.
Now, researchers at UNSW's ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, led by PhD student Supriya Pillai have reported a 16-fold enhancement in light absorption in 1.25-micron thin-film cells for light with a wavelength of 1050 nm. They have also reported a seven-fold enhancement in light absorption in the more expensive wafer type cells light wavelengths of 1200 nm.
"Most thin-film solar cells are between eight and 10 percent efficient," says Dr Kylie Catchpole, a co-author of the study, "but the new technique could increase efficiency to between 13 and 15 percent."
That's an important advance, she says: "If they're below 10 percent efficient, then you can't really afford to install them, because it would take up too much of your roof area, for example, to power your house." Once the technology approaches 15 per cent efficiency, it becomes commercially viable.
An average house could have its daily power supplied by installing a solar system and panels covering 10 square metres. This system would exclude power for cooking and hot water heating.
The breakthrough, which is reported in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Applied Physics, could eventually see a dramatic rise in solar power's share of the electricity market. Currently only 30,000 Australian households - out of 8 million - have installed solar panels.
The UNSW researchers have devised a way to deposit a thin film of silver (about 10 nanometres thick) onto a solar cell surface and then heat it to 200° Celsius. This breaks the film into tiny 100-nanometre "islands" of silver that boost the cell's light trapping ability, thereby boosting its efficiency.
The University of New South Wales
Solar Cell Current Events and Solar Cell News RSSNanometric butterfly wings created
A team of researchers from the State University of Pennsylvania (USA) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) have developed a technique to replicate biological structures, such as butterfly wings, on a nano scale. The resulting biomaterial could be used to make optically active structures, such as optical diffusers for solar panels.
Looking deeply into polymer solar cells
Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ulm have made the first high-resolution 3D images of the inside of a polymer solar cell.
Carbon nanotubes could make efficient solar cells
Using a carbon nanotube instead of traditional silicon, Cornell researchers have created the basic elements of a solar cell that hopefully will lead to much more efficient ways of converting light to electricity than now used in calculators and on rooftops.
Bringing solar power to the masses
On a 104-degree Friday in July when sunlight bathed The University of Arizona campus, doctoral student Dio Placencia sat before a noisy vacuum chamber in the Chemical Sciences Building trying to advance the renewable energy revolution.
Plastics that convert light to electricity could have a big impact
Researchers the world over are striving to develop organic solar cells that can be produced easily and inexpensively as thin films that could be widely used to generate electricity.
NIST scientists study how to stack the deck for organic solar power
A new class of economically viable solar power cells-cheap, flexible and easy to make-has come a step closer to reality as a result of recent work* at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where scientists have deepened their understanding of the complex organic films at the heart of the devices.
Nanopillars Promise Cheap, Efficient, Flexible Solar Cells
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated a way to fabricate efficient solar cells from low-cost and flexible materials.
Low-cost solution processing method developed for CIGS-based solar cells
Though the solar industry today predominately produces solar panels made from crystalline silicon, they remain relatively expensive to make.
Flexible Solar Strips Light Up Campus Bus Shelter
There won't be anymore waiting in the dark at this campus bus shelter. New flexible solar cell technology developed by a group of engineering researchers at McMaster University has been installed to power lighting for night-time transit users.
Lasers are making solar cells competitive
Solar electricity has a future: It is renewable and available in unlimited quantities, and it does not produce any gases detrimental to the climate.
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4 Watt 250 MA 12V Mono-crystalline zipper bag Solar Battery Charger Kit with Siemens Solar Cells by Xtreme Power This solar charger has one 12V cigarette lighter outlet for you to attach any car adapter to recharge your cell phones, I-Pod, MP3 Players, and other electronics devices. It even can recharge a 12V car battery. It recharges the 10 rechargeable AA NIMH or NICD batteries in about 4 hours (batteries not included). The energy stored in the batteries can be used to continue charging your cell phone even in the dark. There are three types of Solar Cells on the market. All our Solar chargers are using the best - Mono-Crystalline Solar Cells. Amorphous or Dual Junction Solar Glass are the cheapest but are only 7% energy efficient and have 5 years of service life. They are big and heavy. Poly-Crystalline have 25 plus years of service life under direct sunlight and are 13%... |
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