Record-Breaking Solar Cells Tailored To Location

Urchin writes "The quality of sunlight varies depending on where you live, but off-the-shelf solar cells are all identical. A new solar cell designed by UK firm Quantasol is easily tuned to adapt to the local light conditions, which boosts its long-term performance. Its short-term performance isn't bad though — the single junction solar cell has a peak efficiency greater than any previous device, beating a world record that's stood for 21 years."

Comments

It's vs its

[ChrisCampbell47]

I know I'm heading to the moderation cellar for this, but COME ON guys, don't be so damn lazy about your language. See my sig below.

That kind of mistake is a huge cognitive speed bump for many readers. You're blowing your chance to communicate with your audience when you make (and belittle complaints about) adolescent mistakes like this.

Vs. vs. vs

[sexconker]

I know I'm heading to the moderation cellar for this, but COME ON guys, don't be so damn lazy about your language. See my sig below.

That kind of mistake is a huge cognitive speed bump for many readers. You're blowing your chance to communicate with your audience when you make (and belittle complaints about) adolescent mistakes like this.

Re:Vs. vs. vs

[BKX]

Just so you know, in most non-US English-speaking countries, abbreviations that end with the last letter of the world don't get a period after them. Examples:

Mr
vs
Dr

versus:

Mich.
Univ.
Rev.

In the US, we just got lazy and started using periods everywhere.

Efficiency VS Cost

[Anonymous Coward]

Efficiency doesn't really matter. What we really want is the lowest cost per kWh. What's the price of these?

Re:Environmentally sound... hehehe.

[MichaelSmith]

But what if you injure yourself? How would you call for help if you have wrecked the phone?

Silicon efficiency

[ender06]

Current silicon cells are about 15-20% average efficiency, NOT 10-12%. They peak at just over 25% efficient as demonstrated by the research lab at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

SunPower A300 silicon cells average about 20% per bin.

Re:What about average efficiency?

[cpotoso]

It translates into an acre of cheap mirrors instead of an acre of expensive solar panels.

Not quite the same: concentrating mirrors suck in anything but a perfectly clear day (i.e. no clouds), but a simple non-concentrated PV panel still works quite well with some (not much) cloud coverage. In other words: unless you live in AZ or some other desert, stick with non-concentrated PV panels.