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New Record For Solar Cell Power Efficiency
mdsolar writes "Renewable Energy Access is reporting that a consortium led by researchers at the University of Delaware has achieved 42.8% efficiency with a silicon solar cell. The method uses lower concentration (factor of 20 magnification) than the previous record holder (40.7% efficiency) so that it may have a broader range of applications, since tolerances for pointing the device will be larger. They are now partnering with DuPont to build engineering and manufacturing prototypes. They expect to be in production in 2010. On a roof, such cells would require less than half the surface area to produce the same amount of power as today's standard solar panels, which have an efficiency of about 17%."
Hopefully, Solar Cell efficiency will keep ahead of smog cover in major cities.
Never play chicken with a passive aggressive.
Im waiting for them to reach above 100% efficiency before I'll buy
Control is an illusion, order our comforting lie. From chaos, through chaos, into chaos we fly
I'm working on a lunar cell at the moment... the other 50% of a day is totally untapped!!
Yes, this is great, but solar power will eventually fail completely, and there are no guarantees for long-term investments beyond five billion years from now.