Thin Film Solar Cells Nears Silicon Based Solar Cell Efficiency

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have moved closer to creating a thin-film solar cell that can compete with the efficiency of the more common silicon-based solar cell.

The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency, setting a new world record for this type of cell. Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells have shown efficiencies as high as 20.3 percent. The energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of sunlight converted by the cell into electricity.
“This is an important milestone,” said NREL Senior Scientist Miguel Contreras. “The thin film people have always looked for matching silicon in performance, and we are reaching that goal.”
CIGS cells use extremely thin layers of semiconductor material applied to a low-cost backing such as glass, flexible metallic foils, high-temperature polymers or stainless steel sheets. Thin-film cells require less energy to make and can be fabricated by a variety of processes. Because of this, they provide a promising path for providing more affordable solar cells for residential and other uses. The CIGS cells are of interest for space applications and the portable electronics market because of their light weight. They are also suitable in special architectural uses, such as photovoltaic roof shingles, windows, siding and others.
Researchers were able to set the world record because of improvements in the quality of the material applied during the manufacturing process, boosting the power output from the cell, Contreras said.
Members of the record-setting team at the National Center for Photovoltaics include Contreras, Ingrid Repins, Brian Egaas, John Scharf, Clay DeHart and Raghu Bhattacharya.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle.

For further information contact NREL Public Relations at (303) 275-4090.

tag: solar cell, thin-film solar cell, copper indium gallium diselenide, Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells, NREL, U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Boeing will build High efficiency solar cells for SolFOcus

A SolFocus solar concentrator is populated with Spectrolab cells in each dish. Spectrolab has leveraged its expertise in space photovoltaic products to create solar cells with record-breaking efficiencies for Earth-based applications. The cells provided will be capable of generating more than 10 megawatts of electricity +, enough to power about 4,000 U.S. homes.

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 28, 2006 - The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has signed a contract to provide 600,000 solar concentrator cells to SolFocus, Inc., a California-based renewable energy company that is developing renewable terrestrial energy alternatives.

"Companies on the cutting edge of the renewable energy revolution come to us because we are the world's leading manufacturer of solar cells," said Charles Toups, vice president of engineering for Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "Our Spectrolab subsidiary has leveraged its expertise in space photovoltaic products to create solar cells with record-breaking efficiencies for Earth-based applications."

Under the 12-month contract from SolFocus, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., Spectrolab will build and deliver 600,000 solar concentrator cells that will be used to convert the sun's rays into affordable electricity for homes and businesses. The cells produced for SolFocus will be capable of generating more than 10 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 4,000 U.S. homes. With the average solar cell efficiency above 35 percent at concentration, Spectrolab's concentrator photovoltaic cells generate electricity at a rate that can be more economical than electricity generated from conventional, flat panel photovoltaic systems.

"Our mission is to deliver reliable solar-generated electricity at wholesale energy prices, and Spectrolab's multi-junction concentrator solar cells are key to making that possible," said Gary D. Conley, CEO of SolFocus. "Spectrolab's cells will be integrated into our upcoming solar concentrator field test program and then into the first phase of active deployments."

A significant advantage of concentrator systems is that fewer solar cells are required to achieve a specific power output, thus replacing large areas of semiconductor materials with relatively inexpensive optics that provide optical concentration. The slightly higher cost of multi-junction cells is offset by the use of fewer cells. Due to the higher efficiency of multi-junction cells used in the concentrator modules, only a small fraction of the cell area is required to generate the same power output compared to crystalline silicon or thin-film, flat-plate modules.

Tags: High efficiency solar cell, solar cell, Boeing, SolFocus, photovoltaic, Spectrolab

New Solar cell record, 42.8 efficiency

Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined solar cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard terrestrial conditions.
42.8 is a significant advance from the current record of 40.7 percent announced in December and demonstrates an important milestone on the path to the 50 percent efficiency goal set by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In November 2005, the UD-led consortium received approximately $13 million in funding for the initial phases of the DARPA Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) program to develop affordable portable solar cell battery chargers.
UD-led team sets solar cell record, joins DuPont on $100 million project

Tags: solar cell, DARPA, High Efficiency Solar Cell, portable solar cell battery chargers

New multijunction Solar Cell provides 40% efficiency over conventional Solar cells

Researchers at Boeing-Spectrolab have announced that they have created a multi-junction solar cell that achieves an incredible 40.7% efficiency, about twice that of the current most efficient solar cell, that was announced about six months ago by Silicon Valley-based SunPower. Said to be a solar cell capble of achiving 22% efficiency .
But at the announcement SunPower cell, SPR-315 was 50% more efficient than the current industry standard Solar cells used in bringing solar power to homes, industries and even lamp posts.
The new high efficiency multijunction cells have a significant advantage over conventional silicon cells in concentrator systems because fewer solar cells are required to achieve the same power output. This technology will continue to dramatically reduce the cost of generating electricity from solar energy as well as the cost of materials used in high-power space satellites and terrestrial applications.

Spectrolab is reducing the cost of solar cell production through research investments and is working with several domestic and international solar concentrator manufacturers on clean, renewable solar energy solutions. Currently, Spectrolab's terrestrial concentrator cells are generating power in a 33-kilowatt full-scale concentrator system in the Australian desert. The company recently signed multi-million dollar contracts for its high efficiency concentrator cells and is anticipating several new contracts in the next few months.

Development of the high-efficiency concentrator cell technology was funded by the NREL's High Performance Photovoltaics program and Spectrolab.

Tags: multi-junction solar cell, Boeing-Spectrolab, SPR-315, SunPower, Spectrolab, NREL

30 Million into Sharp Solar Power Development

VUNET's Simon Burns from Taipei, reports that Sharp Coporation will expand its solar cell output by a factor of six, the Japanese electronics manufacturer announced on November 1st.

New production lines will start rolling at the company's solar cell facility in Southern Japan later this month.
After the expansion, Sharp's total annual production capacity of pholtovoltaic solar cells will be enough to generate 600 megawatts of power, up from 100 megawatts today.
Solar panels with 600 megawatts of generation capacity would be enough to provide power for a city with a population of almost half a million.

Simon also reported earlier that Motech Industries will ask for about $300m from investors, and E-Ton Solar Tech will seek more than $190m, increase production of Solar Cells this year.

Tags: pholtovoltaic, solar cell, Solar panel