New technology from australia could cut cost of solar cells by 60%
Washington, Dec 08:
source: Zeenews
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=340728&ssid=365&sid=ENV
An Australian National University researcher claims to have invented a technology that could cut the cost of producing solar panels by more than 60 percent. Professor Andrew Blakers, director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems at the Australian National University, has said that `sliver technology` could reduce the price of solar power to below the current retail price of electricity. This would also make it cost-effective for householders to buy solar panels rather than electricity from the grid, he said.
According to Prof. Blakers, the system works by taking a standard solar cell about one millimetre thick and cutting it into tiny slices that are just 120 micrometres wide. “Imagine a standard solar cell is a loaf of bread. When you put it out in the sun it generates energy based on its surface area. Now imagine you cut that loaf up into slices and lay them horizontally. You get a lot more surface area,” he said. According to him, the technique also allows researchers to use much smaller amounts of expensive silicon to generate the same amount of electricity.
“This can also keep manufacturing costs down, as all the processing steps normally carried out on solar cells are done while the slices are still in the `loaf`. We`re looking at major reductions in the total cost without the need for major scientific breakthroughs. It`s about doing a good engineering job using known scientific principles, in contrast to some other technologies. The sliver technology is also efficient at converting sunlight to electricity,” he said. He said while they have achieved efficiencies over 20 percent, making it the world`s most efficient commercial thin-film solar cell, further developments would be needed, such as figuring out how to cut thinner slivers.
Prof. Blakers invented the technology with colleague Dr Klaus Weber and developed it with funding from energy supplier Origin Energy and the Australian Research Council. They presented their findings at the recent Australian Institute of Physics conference in Brisbane.