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New World Record Achieved In Solar Cell Technology

Posted December 07, 2006 7:22 AM

From ScienceDaily Headlines:

A concentrator solar cell funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of the nation's energy mix.

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Power-User
Technical Fields - Education - New Member Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2006
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#1

Re: New World Record Achieved In Solar Cell Technology

12/08/2006 8:39 AM

What are the most effective Power Solar Panel available NOW?

What are their $$/Watt?

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Guru
Australia - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member

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#2

Re: New World Record Achieved In Solar Cell Technology

12/08/2006 10:31 AM

Solar cells are great, but can any one tell me how much CO2 is released in the manufacture of a solar cell and how long does the cell have to operate to pay back the CO2 debt? Ignore weather & other variables etc, keep it simple

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Guru

Join Date: Aug 2006
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#3

Re: New World Record Achieved In Solar Cell Technology

12/08/2006 11:44 AM

For a cost of 10 cents per KWH, it looks like they figured on amortizing over 10 years. I'd guess that useful life might be more like 20 years. I found one vendor who warrants their $2.75/watt panel for 20 years, which would make is pretty good deal.

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