Four-junction, four-terminal stacked solar cell hits 43.9 percent efficiency

[russ]

An article from gizmag

http://www.gizmag.com/four-junction-four-terminal-stacked-solar-cell/31868/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2996eb3cdf-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-2996eb3cdf-90360106

[russ]

graph for PV cell efficiency

http://www.nrel.gov/ncpv/images/efficiency_chart.jpg

[SunEagle]

Neat stuff russ.

Sure getting cells that have 3 times the efficiency of the current PV product looks great in the lab but at what cost to get there.

Back in the mid 70's when I attended the University of Delaware we were researching Cadmium Sulfide thin film cells. The theory was to find a "cheap" way to make thin film cells instead of the expensive Silicon cells. We could get the cost down but at half (best case) the efficiency of the Silicon cells it wasn't economical. Also the thin film cells were very sensitive to heat and degraded much faster than the Silicon. So while it was lower in cost it was much lower in efficiency and had a shorter life. Not a good combination for a viable product.

Glad to see the research continues with new materials and technologies. Hope they find a way to get the higher output cells but unless the cost is in the right ball park these super cells will only be used by the military.

[pleppik]

Thanks for passing this along. I especially liked the NREL graph--I'm surprised I hadn't stumbled over that before. It's fun to see some of the new technologies in context, both in terms of how fast they are improving and how far they have to go.