physorg.com — Scientists from Spectrolab, 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.
Jun 1, 2007 View in Crawl 4
mandarinJun 1, 2007
We're looking at a global perspective here. Some countries still lack basic 24 hour electricity you know.
jackal1291Jun 1, 2007
As many have pointed out, the other side to getting solar feasible on a large scale is that of cost/materials. There is a ton of research happening in this area (low-cost photovoltaics) to achieve regular-PV efficiencies using cheaper and widely available metals/materials through some fundamental breakthroughs and ingenious engineering. This *will* happen, it may take some time, but the effects could be dramatic. Consider, for instance, that large swaths of the developing world (rural areas in particular) don't have regular access to electricity. However, with super-cheap PV cells we can at least provide reliable access to power in a decentralized way by having households place panels on the roofs of their houses. This is not hype, it's a basic science and engineering problem that is incrementally getting solved. More funding will, I think, be helpful since not too many companies are willing to invest on something that's still probably a decade away from the tipping point, as it were..
captainstoneJun 1, 2007
When I can actually buy a more efficient solar panel? I enjoy reading about improvements. However, I want to purchase one now! My specs are 10KW from panels that take up 12'x20'. Portable too. Want to move it between the house, the rv, the boat. Hey, I can dream...Sharp has 200W panels that are approx 3'x5'. So scaling to 12'x20' gets me 800W. Each panel is $1,050. So that would be $4,200. 1KW would be $5,250. 10KW would then be $52,500. Then cost of the power controller, inverter, batteries, etc...
bobtripsJun 1, 2007
There's an interesting battery being developed at MIT - a "nano battery", really a super efficient capacitor.About twice as much storage capacity per pound as a lead acid battery (very important for vehicle use), charges in under five minutes, can be discharged/recharged thousands of times.If this thing pans out it would double the range of electric cars and make it as quick to recharge as to fill your tank with liquid fuel. Plus it would make it feasible to store a day or two worth of power in individual houses. That would take care of the periodic availability of solar and give people some "disaster" buffering.
Closed AccountJun 2, 2007
Something is going to have to give soon,oil is running out and global warming is heating the world 10x faster then first thought. If Walmart can do it then why can't we?
thegoldenstateJun 2, 2007
@nikokun Do all you want with the house. Just stay away from my car.
jester55Jun 2, 2007
i believe that the old ones were about 18% or even lower.