Nanopillar Solar May Cost 10x Less Than Silicon

Al writes "A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new kind of flexible solar cell that could be far cheaper to make than conventional silicon photovoltaics. The cells consist of an array of 500-nanometer-high cadmium sulfide pillars printed on top of an aluminum foil — the material surrounding the pillars absorbs light and releases electrons, while the pillars themselves transport the electrons to an electrical circuit. The closely packed pillars trap light between them, helping the surrounding material absorb more. This means the electrons also have a very short distance to travel through the pillars, so there are fewer chances of their getting trapped at defects and its possible to use low-quality, less expensive materials. '"You won't know the cost until you do this using a roll-to-roll process," says lead researchers Ali Javey. "But if you can do it, the cost could be 10 times less than what's used to make [crystalline] silicon panels."'"

Comments

Not off to a good start

[jeffmeden]

"May cost 10x less"

How much less did the Silicon ones cost (compared to some third, unnamed product) in order to make the difference here "10 times" less? Yes, what you meant was "May cost 1/10th as much as Silicon" but you didn't. Try again.

Please lets stop with the X times LESS nonsense

[SpryGuy]

It really is meaningless.

If you mean it will cost one tenth as much, then say so.

I don't even know what "ten times less" means. Ten times less than WHAT?

Educated?

[Runaway1956]

"But if you can do it, the cost could be 10 times less"

Apparently educated people make these statements. Emphasize the word "apparently". This is political talk, not science talk.

Had he stated, "We can build these sheets at one tenth the cost of current solar panels" then his statement would have meaning. Then, we could investigate the accuracy of his statement. But, the statement has no meaning, so we can never establish accuracy.

Phhhht.

Get a clue people. I hate grammar nazis, but there comes a point where blabbering idiots fail to communicate their idea because they don't comprehend the most basic rules of language - or math.