New Material for More Efficient Solar Cells

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 9, 2004 @04:34AM from the i-knew-that-glowing-ball-was-good-for-something dept.

PunkerTFC writes "Space.com has an article on a new material that could create relatively cheap solar cells which are up to 50% efficient. This is much better than the 25% efficient silicon solar cells (most common) or the 36% efficient multi-junction solar cells (very expensive). The material was created by "forcing oxygen into a zinc-manganese-tellurium crystal" creating more band gaps, which allow the cell to create electrical energy with three seperate frequencies of light. This could lead to cheap, high-output solar cells in the future, but it will take at least 3 years to assess the feasibility of the new technology, according to the researchers."

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I'll say! by akincisor · 2004-05-09 11:58 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Don't be such an ass. Sometimes when things don't make sense, it's because you didn't understand the post, not because the post was wrong.

I was going to mod you up, but decided to reply instead. The world would be a better place if everyone would understand this little fact. (sorry to be offtopic, but this is a pet peeve)