Created by solar cells with low cost per watt

Emanuel Sachs. (. Emanuel Sachs. ) From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (. MIT. ) Found a way to improve the performance of low-cost solar cells without significant appreciation of their.

development. Sachs. relates to solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon. As we know, these photovoltaic cells significantly cheaper devices based on single-crystal silicon, but in this case - are inferior to them in the efficiency. However, the low cost of materials - an important factor in reducing the cost of a ' solar ' watts, because many universities, laboratories and companies working on different versions of the polycrystalline silicon panels.

And this, by the way, not including any exotic, such as. record battery. based organic batteries, made ​​in the form. myriad nanoantenna. or, for example,. ' salad '. solar converters.

In his laboratory. Emanuel. built a small ( 2 x 2 cm ) solar cells made ​​from polycrystalline silicon, which have shown the efficiency of 19.5 %. This is nearly a third more than conventional converters, based on the same material. And it's about the level of bulk single-crystal silicon panels while still at the cost of.

To achieve this effect, a scientist employed three innovations.

First:. Sachs. By the way, thinking about the benefits of a rough ' texture ' cruising among the developers of solar cells for a long time and reach to extremes at times - remember the pilot. ' nanomanhetten '. ?.

Second, silver wiring, collecting current from the panel, the authors of the project was done five times thinner than usual ( without loss of conductivity), which reduced the amount of light blocked by these fibers. Yes, and on the surface of the panel are able to post entries more often than usual, which improved the ' harvest '.

Third, broad new (relatively, of course) conductive paths that collect current from those already most of ultrathin wires. The scientist has made such conductors in the facet mirrors, reflecting light on silicon transducers, rather than obscure their.

Commercialization of this technology, the company will. 1366 Technologies. , One of the founders of which is. Sachs. He argues that the mass production of solar cells of this design will cost $ 1.65 per watt, and later it will be possible to hold a series of improvements to lower the price to $ 1.3 per watt. Today's massive solar panels cost about $ 2.1 per watt.

To promote the new items on the market there is good reason: today. 1366 Technologies. announced that it has received funding of $ 12.4 million for project development.

Read about. record for efficiency. solar.