[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Explained: The UK's Potentially Terrifying Criminal Justice "Reforms"

Feed Your Mitochondria or Age Faster! Your Mitochondria Are Starving for THIS!

What The World Is Asking ChatGPT In 2025

Pfizer bribery probe dropped after ex-company lawyer Pam Bondi takes over DOJ in February 2025.

Life Expectancy of Covid-Vaxxed Plunges by 30 Years

Trump Signals Support For New Israeli Attack On Iran Report?

Keir Starmer reveals where his family is really from

(Real) 10 Non-Tax Policies In Trump's Megabill That Will Affect Americans

10 Non-Tax Policies In Trump's Megabill That Will Affect Americans

The Global Debanking Crisis Exposed! Banks Are Now Weapons Against Free Speech

Italian Government Warning of a Super Volcano

Tucker Carlson: Fox News & neo-cons are LYING about Trump and they’re keeping us in endless wars.

Tariff Windfall Drives Surprise $27 Billion US Budget Surplus In June

Tucker Carlson Reveals Who He Thinks Funded Jeffrey Epstein's Crimes

Russia's Dark Future

A Missile Shield for America - A Trillion Dollar Fantasy?

Kentucky School Board Chairman Resigns After Calling for People to ‘Shoot Republicans’

These Are 2025's 'Most Livable' Cities

Nicotine and Fish

Genocide Summer Camp, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

This Can Create Endless Green Energy WITHOUT Electricity

Geoengineering: Who’s Behind It and How We Stop It

Pam Bondi Ordered Prosecution of Dr. Kirk Moore After Refusing to Dismiss Case

California woman bombarded with Amazon packages for over a year

CVS ordered to pay $949 MILLION in Medicaid fraud case.

Starmer has signed up to the UNs agreement to raise taxes in the UK

Magic mushrooms may hold the secret to longevity: Psilocybin extends lifespan by 57% in groundbreaking study

Cops favorite AI tool automatically deletes evidence of when AI was used

Leftist Anti ICE Extremist OPENS FIRE On Cops, $50,000 REWARD For Shooter

With great power comes no accountability.


Science/Tech
See other Science/Tech Articles

Title: New concentrator-assisted solar cell 45% efficient
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130923204214.htm
Published: Sep 23, 2013
Author: staff
Post Date: 2013-09-23 23:39:54 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 86
Comments: 1

Science Daily

Sep. 23, 2013 — The Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin jointly announced today having achieved a new world record for the conversion of sunlight into electricity using a new solar cell structure with four solar subcells. Surpassing competition after only over three years of research, and entering the roadmap at world class level, a new record efficiency of 44.7% was measured at a concentration of 297 suns. This indicates that 44.7% of the solar spectrum's energy, from ultraviolet through to the infrared, is converted into electrical energy. This is a major step towards reducing further the costs of solar electricity and continues to pave the way to the 50% efficiency roadmap.

Back in May 2013, the German-French team of Fraunhofer ISE, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin had already announced a solar cell with 43.6% efficiency. Building on this result, further intensive research work and optimization steps led to the present efficiency of 44.7%.

These solar cells are used in concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), a technology which achieves more than twice the efficiency of conventional PV power plants in sun-rich locations. The terrestrial use of so-called III-V multi-junction solar cells, which originally came from space technology, has prevailed to realize highest efficiencies for the conversion of sunlight to electricity. In this multi-junction solar cell, several cells made out of different III-V semiconductor materials are stacked on top of each other. The single subcells absorb different wavelength ranges of the solar spectrum.

"We are incredibly proud of our team which has been working now for three years on this four-junction solar cell," says Frank Dimroth, Department Head and Project Leader in charge of this development work at Fraunhofer ISE. "This four-junction solar cell contains our collected expertise in this area over many years. Besides improved materials and optimization of the structure, a new procedure called wafer bonding plays a central role. With this technology, we are able to connect two semiconductor crystals, which otherwise cannot be grown on top of each other with high crystal quality. In this way we can produce the optimal semiconductor combination to create the highest efficiency solar cells."

"This world record increasing our efficiency level by more than 1 point in less than 4 months demonstrates the extreme potential of our four-junction solar cell design which relies on Soitec bonding techniques and expertise," says André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, Soitec's Chairman and CEO. "It confirms the acceleration of the roadmap towards higher efficiencies which represents a key contributor to competitiveness of our own CPV systems. We are very proud of this achievement, a demonstration of a very successful collaboration."

"This new record value reinforces the credibility of the direct semiconductor bonding approaches that is developed in the frame of our collaboration with Soitec and Fraunhofer ISE. We are very proud of this new result, confirming the broad path that exists in solar technologies for advanced III-V semiconductor processing," said Leti CEO Laurent Malier. Concentrator modules are produced by Soitec (started in 2005 under the name Concentrix Solar, a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISE). This particularly efficient technology is employed in solar power plants located in sun-rich regions with a high percentage of direct radiation. Presently Soitec has CPV installations in 18 different countries including Italy, France, South Africa and California.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)

"In this multi-junction solar cell, several cells made out of different III-V semiconductor materials are stacked on top of each other. The single subcells absorb different wavelength ranges of the solar spectrum. "

I'm not very current on solar cell tech, and I Think I get the gist of this info using multi layers. But it popped in to thought ---- Have or are they using the 'outer' 'lens' of the panels to focus/concentrate sunlight on the photovotaic(sp) layer? It would be very easy to do.

If you picture the 'di-fuser' type panel in fluorescent ceiling lights instead being mini lenses to focus, that I haven't noticed.

"If we don’t adhere to the Constitution on matters as significant as presidential eligibility, then the Constitution ceases to be a meaningful document for guiding our nation."

ndcorup  posted on  2013-09-24   8:06:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]