The Last Frost

A new solar cell technology which was funded by the Department of Energy, has become the World's most efficient solar cell. It converts sunlight to electricity at a whopping 40.7% efficiency. Traditional cells have an efficiency somewhere in the teens. More efficiency means cheaper solar energy.

The new technology utilizes a technology called multi-junction cells. Basically they have multiple layers which convert more of the solar light spectrum into electricity, not just the visible spectrum. They also utilize solar concentrators to capture more of the sun's light and direct it to the cell's themselves.

The DOE hopes to get this technology to the marketplace as soon as possible, but who knows when that will be. It can't happen soon enough. 

New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology – [Department of Energy]

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 8th, 2006 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Energy, Latest News, Renewable Energy, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.