Solar3D Thinks Its Solar Cells Can Produce 200% the Power of Conventional Solar Cells

March 20th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

Solar3D is a young solar cell company looking to mass produce 3-dimensional (3-D) solar cells. Take a stroll through our Solar3D articles from the past year for a little more history. Now, the innovative solar company is under the impression that “it may have discovered the ultimate silicon solar cell design.” It announced yesterday that “it has completed a detailed simulation analysis comparing its breakthrough solar cell with conventional solar cells” and that the result is pretty dramatic. Solar3D found that its solar cell “can produce 200% of the power output of conventional solar cells.”

Now, this hasn’t been independently verified yet, and it isn’t yet based on a working prototype. So, some might believe it’s all just hype at this point. But I’m going to lean on the side of optimism and say that this looks quite promising. Here’s more on how the technology works, and why it’s so special:

The company’s innovative single wafer silicon solar cell is based on a 3-dimensional design with two very powerful and unique patent-pending features: wide angle light collection and high conversion efficiency. The Solar3D cell has a special wide-angle feature on the surface that can capture more light in the morning and evening hours, as well as in the winter months when the sun is not directly overhead. The Solar3D cell also uses a 3-dimensional design to increase the electricity generation efficiency by trapping sunlight inside photovoltaic microstructures, which are etched into the wafer, where photons bounce around until they are converted into electrons. These two features are combined into a single solar cell design to deliver unprecedented performance….

The company’s analysis indicates that a typical 17% efficient solar cell performs more like a 5% efficient cell when light is shining 20 degrees from the side, such as during the morning and evening hours. The company estimates that its Solar3D cell can maintain its high 25% efficiency for a longer period of time and can generate 200% of the power output of conventional solar cells. This translates to an estimated 40% reduction in the payback period of a fully installed Solar3D panel array.

Full results of the analysis and short videos about the technology can be found on Solar3D’s Technology page.

Here’s more from Solar3D CEO Jim Nelson on what he sees as the clear advantages of Solar3D’s technology:

“The result of our innovation is a revolutionary solar cell that can deliver benefits that have long eluded the solar industry. Everyone wants low cost high-powered solar cells to convert an unlimited amount of free solar energy into useful electricity. But, the industry has hit a wall using conventional 2-dimensional solar cell designs. With Solar3D cells, utility solar farms can be smaller in size and easier to operate without the need for mechanical systems to track the sun. Space limited applications, such as rooftops, can finally generate enough useful power to successfully compete against other sources of electricity. We believe that our 3D design is a game changer.”

I can’t argue with him.

Solar3D is very outspokenly betting on silicon as its core material, and it’s currently working on a prototype 3-D solar cell.

“Solar3D is currently constructing a prototype of its 3-dimensional solar cell using silicon, simply because silicon is the most abundant and least expensive material available in the world for making solar cells. Early solar pioneers such as First Solar, Abound Solar and Solyndra bet heavily on thin film solar cells using rare earth materials such as cadmium, telluride and gallium. Their lack of market success supports the company’s fundamental belief that silicon is the right material for solar cells and 3D is the right way to get more performance out of silicon.”

I certainly wouldn’t say First Solar lacks market success — it’s one of the most successful solar companies ever — but it is running into some trouble now with the plunging price of silicon solar cells. It certainly makes sense to steer the route of silicon these days.

Source: Business Wire
Images: Solar3D

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Tags: 3d solar cells, 3d solar panels, new solar technology, solar 3D, solar technology, Solar3D

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

http://www.ranker.com/list/solar-power-companies/reference Solar Power Companies

would I love a solar charger for my iPhone; especially if I lived someplace that got a lot of sunshine! When will they come up with a kinetic charger? That has been around for watch batteries for ages!
derekbolton

I note that the claim is that the efficiency is doubled at some angles, but at those angles the output would be lower both because of effects within the cell and because the panel as a whole intercepts less of the sun’s output (a sine function). So what it turns into in overall output is not clear.
I plotted up the datapoints from the graph and found that the overall output should only increase by 55% for a static panel.
Then again there’s atmospheric absorption. Taking the attenuation factor to be exp(-cosec(elevation)*k), choosing k=0.2 (giving 32% at 10 degrees), and taking the output of a static conventional panel as 1, I get:
static 3D: 1.54
steered conventional: 1.65
steered 3D: 2.26
So don’t give up on the steering technology yet.
As k increases, the benefits of steering fall off, but 3D maintains a 54% advantage for static and a 37% advantage for steered.
- Bob_Wallace
  
  Did you include this (from their site)?
  
  High Efficiency
  
  Solar cell efficiency is the measure of how much incident sunlight is converted into electricity. Most solar cells today are made from silicon, an inexpensive and abundant raw material. Due to the physics of silicon, the theoretical maximum efficiency of high-grade crystalline silicon solar cells is approximately 29%. In commercial practice, the efficiency ranges from 15% to 19%.(1)
  
  Our 3D solar cell is calculated to have an internal efficiency of 25.47%, more than any existing silicon solar cell, and is designed to take advantage of low cost manufacturing processes.
  
  http://www.solar3d.com/technology.php
  - derekbolton
    
    Bob,
    No, I didn’t, but I don’t see what that adds. I took the datapoints from the graph for the intrinsic efficiencies, then applied the other effects of time of day – foreshortening and atmospheric attenuation – to get the daily output. Are you suggesting that’s wrong?
    - Bob_Wallace
      
      I took the graph as an indication of greater ability to accept light from greater angles.
      
      Why don’t you contact Solar3D and see how they explain their number?
      
      (Full disclosure: I neither believe nor dis-believe their claim. I wait until product comes to market before I buy into performance. What they say is interesting, but lots of people make interesting projections and most seem to come up short. Not all, but many. ;o)
    - derekbolton
      
      (In reply to Bob, below; Disqus seems to cut off the reply chain at a depth of 4 :-()
      I’m not disputing their numbers. They say they get double the intrinsic efficiency at some angles, and the graph illustrates that. I’m just saying that does not turn into double the output over the course of a day. For static panels, it’s about 50% more output.
    - Bob_Wallace
      
      Site operator decision. Disqus will let you keep the nesting going but soon you end up with “3-character-wide” columns.
      
      I just go back up to the first Reply above and tack on. I think people follow….
      
      —
      
      When I look at their graph I don’t see 200%. Why not contact them with your numbers and see what they say?
      
      If they’re up front people they’ll either explain or correct their site.
      
      —
      
      Even if it’s only ~50%, that’s important because it extends the solar day on both ends and decreases the loss for those systems that never get seasonal adjustments.
      - http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
        
        I’ve just increased it again. Will see how long until I get complaints about the width of the comment box.
    - derekbolton
      
      For up to 20 degrees, the graph shows the 3D efficiency as about double, i.e. 200% of, the baseline.
Bob_Wallace

The big story here – the solar day gets longer. Without using a tracker.

Solar comes on line earlier in the day and stays on later into the late afternoon. That is very valuable. It reduces the need for storage or alternate generation.
- anderlan
  
  Bummer. Building a tracker is really the only challenge (interesting or fun thing) about adding solar to your house at this point.
  - http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
    
    lol
Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Of late I go mad as I read the efficiency claims of Solar Cell by the manufacturters?
Dr.A.jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com
- Balakrishna
  
  hi jagdish garu we r planing for 3 megawatt solar plant .is it better to go for 3d technology .can i get some tips & advises from u.pls give me u’r contact no.