New solar cells
www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/DEC_06/SPECTR_061206.htm
Spectrolab’s new terrestrial solar cell smashes 40% efficiency barrier
Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab Inc has achieved a new record in terrestrial concentrator solar
cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, the company has demonstrated a photovoltaic
cell that converts 40.7% of the sun's energy into electricity, as verified by the U.S. Department
of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
"This solar cell performance is the highest efficiency level any photovoltaic device has ever
achieved," said Dr David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. "The terrestrial cell we have
developed uses the same technology base as our space-based cells. So, once qualified, they
can be manufactured in very high volumes with minimal impact to production flow."
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, this ‘new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity
performance’ was achieved with the help of DOE funding (via NREL's High Performance
Photovoltaics program). Kasner added that the breakthrough could lead to systems with an
installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per
kilowatt/hour.
The majority of solar cell modules available today do not concentrate sunlight, and so only
achieve an efficiency of around 18%. But using an optical concentrator, sunlight intensity
can be increased. Spectrolab’s new solar cell is ‘multi-junction’, allowing it to capture more of
the solar spectrum. In a multi-junction cell, individual cells are made of layers. Each layer
captures part of the sunlight passing through the cell, so that the cell receives more energy
from the sun’s light.
Multi-junction cells offer an advantage over silicon cells in concentrator systems because
fewer solar cells are needed to achieve the same power output.
The DOE has been working on multi-junction gallium arsenide-based solar cell devices since
the early 1980s. By 1994, the DOE’s NREL had demonstrated a 30% efficient multi-junction
cell. These cells attracted interest from the space industry, and today most satellites utilize
them.
"These results are particularly encouraging since they were achieved using a new class of
metamorphic semiconductor materials, allowing much greater freedom in multi-junction cell
design for optimal conversion of the solar spectrum," said Dr Richard R. King, principal
investigator of the high efficiency solar cell research and development effort. "The excellent
performance of these materials hints at still higher efficiency in future solar cells."
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www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/DEC_06/SPECTR_061206.htm
Spectrolab’s new terrestrial solar cell smashes 40% efficiency barrier
Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab Inc has achieved a new record in terrestrial concentrator solar
cell efficiency. Using concentrated sunlight, the company has demonstrated a photovoltaic
cell that converts 40.7% of the sun's energy into electricity, as verified by the U.S. Department
of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
"This solar cell performance is the highest efficiency level any photovoltaic device has ever
achieved," said Dr David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. "The terrestrial cell we have
developed uses the same technology base as our space-based cells. So, once qualified, they
can be manufactured in very high volumes with minimal impact to production flow."
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, this ‘new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity
performance’ was achieved with the help of DOE funding (via NREL's High Performance
Photovoltaics program). Kasner added that the breakthrough could lead to systems with an
installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per
kilowatt/hour.
The majority of solar cell modules available today do not concentrate sunlight, and so only
achieve an efficiency of around 18%. But using an optical concentrator, sunlight intensity
can be increased. Spectrolab’s new solar cell is ‘multi-junction’, allowing it to capture more of
the solar spectrum. In a multi-junction cell, individual cells are made of layers. Each layer
captures part of the sunlight passing through the cell, so that the cell receives more energy
from the sun’s light.
Multi-junction cells offer an advantage over silicon cells in concentrator systems because
fewer solar cells are needed to achieve the same power output.
The DOE has been working on multi-junction gallium arsenide-based solar cell devices since
the early 1980s. By 1994, the DOE’s NREL had demonstrated a 30% efficient multi-junction
cell. These cells attracted interest from the space industry, and today most satellites utilize
them.
"These results are particularly encouraging since they were achieved using a new class of
metamorphic semiconductor materials, allowing much greater freedom in multi-junction cell
design for optimal conversion of the solar spectrum," said Dr Richard R. King, principal
investigator of the high efficiency solar cell research and development effort. "The excellent
performance of these materials hints at still higher efficiency in future solar cells."
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