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Record-Breaking Solar Cells Tailored To Location

Posted by samzenpus on from the new-and-improved dept.

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."

3 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. It's vs its by ChrisCampbell47 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    --
    One simple rule for its versus it's
  2. Vs. vs. vs by sexconker · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  3. Re:What about average efficiency? by cpotoso · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.