Comments on: New Thin-Film Solar Cell Efficiency Record Set, 20.4%

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:18:00 +0000

Man, that hangover is going to hurt………..

By: Horace Cooper

Horace Cooper — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:50:00 +0000

if the power from the solar cells has can efficiently power rods and can bend round corners and up the road, it could replace street lighting and such like. bendy lights can be useful if kept still in the sun and its doesn’t rain. I think it could snap though or and it could spring back and hit you in the face.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:31:00 +0000

thanks. i have a feeling his iPad ‘corrected’ that for him and he didn’t notice. updated. (updated the rare earth part, too.)

By: Blue Lightning

Blue Lightning — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:38:00 +0000

There is no such element called ‘telluride’ only a ski hill in Colorado. Possibly you mean Tellurium or Thallium. Either way neither element is a rare earth. Just sayen!?!

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:10:00 +0000

Wiki thinks that “Most thin film solar cells are sandwiched between two panes of glass”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:12:00 +0000

I guess I should mention that these thin cells normally don’t have glass put on top of them.

By: tibi stibi

tibi stibi — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:02:00 +0000

exactly. so asuming the price to make these cells stay the same, you will get 10% extra for the same price and less installation cost.

i just wonder how long it will take to bring these kind of cells to the market. when i look at shops today i see crystalline cell of 18%. 18% is technologie of years and years ago:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/PVeff%28rev121211%29.jpg

By: Charles Leduc

Charles Leduc — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:17:00 +0000

where is this new technology sold?

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:35:00 +0000

I think they need cleaner glass if that’s the case. Window glass should stop less than 12% of light from as a result of reflection and transmissivity losses, cutting a 35% cell down to 31%. And with all the effort that’s gone into improving the efficiency of solar cells I think there is a good chance they can do better than that.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:56:00 +0000

You got to be carefull of these figures some labs quote efficiency without the laminated glass installed on the top of the solar cell, efficiency drop down when the laminated glass is installed, I’ve have seen figures of solar cell 35% efficiency but after the laminated glass PVA was installed on top of the cell the figure were 8 to 14%.

By: Douglas Card

Douglas Card — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:03:00 +0000

it is 10% improvement

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:28:00 +0000

Most importantly thin film is lighter than crystaline, which matters in mobile applications

in mobile applications, solar is competing with very expensive battery power.
imagine a laptop or tablet that you could sit with the lid closed, or the reverse side of your phone.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:42:00 +0000

An 18% to 20% improvement may not sound like much, but it’s really more than a 10% improvement.

It means that we would be able to install about 10% fewer panels and get the same amount of power. Right now the major costs for solar is not panels, but “balance of system” (BoS)costs. Fewer panels to be installed means less wire, mounting racks, labor, etc.