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40% Efficient Solar Cells to be Used for Solar Electricity

Posted June 01, 2007 11:01 AM

From PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news:

Scientists from Spectrolab, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing, have recently published their research on the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone—the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device. Their results appear in a recent edition of Applied Physics Letters. Most conventional solar cells used in today's applications, such as for supplemental power for homes and buildings, are one-sun, single-junction silicon cells that use only the light intensity that the sun produces naturally, and have optimal efficiency for a relatively narrow range of photon energies.

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The Engineer
Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Physics... United States - Member - NY Popular Science - Genetics - Organic Chemistry... Popular Science - Cosmology - New Member Ingeniería en Español - Nuevo Miembro - New Member

Join Date: Feb 2005
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#1

Re: 40% Efficient Solar Cells to be Used for Solar Electricity

06/04/2007 11:49 AM

That's great work. It would really be awesome if they ever got above 50%. Solar power is an important part of the future, but only when it can convert sunlight to energy at a higher percentage.

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Power-User

Join Date: Mar 2008
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#2

Re: 40% Efficient Solar Cells to be Used for Solar Electricity

03/22/2008 10:45 PM

Lets not get too happy, these are 40% optimistic ratings for concatinated arrays that run up to 240xSun ratings. It doesn't get this kind of optimization without the mirror array to focus on it. But, mirrors are cheaper that PV cells, so it's definitely a giant step in the right direction.

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