It is sort of silly to declare the end of life for one technology when the technology to replace it is not yet in place. Every year for the last twenty people have proclaimed the end of silicon's reign, yet we still use silicon.
The is a huge investment in the existing silicon infrastructure that will have to be duplicated in any replacement technology. There is also the educational inertia - engineering schools are still teaching people to use silicon and it will be many years before they start teaching anything else. Silicon will be around for a long time to come.
I have never seen an economic analysis of solar cell production.
Will a solar cell manage to produce more power than was required to make it in its normal lifetime?
Hmmmmm.
Slashdot Mirror
It is sort of silly to declare the end of life for one technology when the technology to replace it is not yet in place. Every year for the last twenty people have proclaimed the end of silicon's reign, yet we still use silicon. The is a huge investment in the existing silicon infrastructure that will have to be duplicated in any replacement technology. There is also the educational inertia - engineering schools are still teaching people to use silicon and it will be many years before they start teaching anything else. Silicon will be around for a long time to come.
I have never seen an economic analysis of solar cell production. Will a solar cell manage to produce more power than was required to make it in its normal lifetime? Hmmmmm.