New high end Solar Cell claims 42.8 % efficiency

[Robert]

http://www.physorg.com/news104501218.html
Team sets solar cell record
Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very
high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led
by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined solar
cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard terrestrial
conditions.

[snip]

Robert H.

 

[Rich Grise]

http://www.physorg.com/news104501218.html Team sets solar cell record
Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very
high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led
by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined
solar cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard
terrestrial conditions.

It'd be nice. I wonder when it will get below, say, $1/KW.

Cheers!
Rich

 

[[email protected]]

It'd be nice. I wonder when it will get below, say, $1/KW.

Not anytime soon. With the solar constant at about 1.3 kW/m^2 a
dollar would have to buy almost a square meter of solar cells,
even at 100 % efficiency.

Anno

 

[Joel Kolstad]

It'd be nice. I wonder when it will get below, say, $1/KW.

You're dreaming, Rich. Gasoline generators are roughly $100/kW, and of course
have considerably higher on-going costs. Solar is often pushing an order of
magnitude greater -- you can bet that if you could purchase 10kW of solar
panels for $1k, almost every house in the U.S. would be covered with them.

 

[James Arthur]

You're dreaming, Rich. Gasoline generators are roughly $100/kW, and of course
have considerably higher on-going costs. Solar is often pushing an order of
magnitude greater -- you can bet that if you could purchase 10kW of solar
panels for $1k, almost every house in the U.S. would be covered with them.

Present prices are about $7/watt. At $2/watt (a rough estimate) it'd
start getting interesting (for end-users, who pay about 3x the
utilities' cost-of-generation.

$2/watt wouldn't be interesting for utilities at all, of course, for
the same reason: that would be 3x their current cost-of-generation!

Cheers,
James Arthur

 

[John Popelish]

Present prices are about $7/watt. At $2/watt (a rough estimate) it'd
start getting interesting (for end-users, who pay about 3x the
utilities' cost-of-generation.

$2/watt wouldn't be interesting for utilities at all, of course, for
the same reason: that would be 3x their current cost-of-generation!

What do you estimate to be the current cost per watt over
the life of a coal, oil, gas or nuclear fueled facility
(build, operate, fuel and decommission)?

 

[John Larkin]

http://www.physorg.com/news104501218.html
Team sets solar cell record
Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very
high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led
by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined solar
cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard terrestrial
conditions.

[snip]

Robert H.

Sounds like a parlor trick. With 20:1 concentrator optics, dichroic
wavelength splitters, and three different solar cells, it's not going
to be economic.

John

 

[Joel Kolstad]

Sounds like a parlor trick. With 20:1 concentrator optics, dichroic
wavelength splitters, and three different solar cells, it's not going
to be economic.

Probably not any time soon, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to develop
the technology to *make* it cheap. Transistor haven't always cost roughly one
*millionth* of a cent, you know.

 

[John Larkin]

Probably not any time soon, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to develop
the technology to *make* it cheap. Transistor haven't always cost roughly one
*millionth* of a cent, you know.

Similar breakthroughs are announced several times per week. Not one in
ten thousand amounts to anything.

Do you own anything that uses a fuel cell for power? That has been
next year's technology for at least 50 years now. I wish people would
announce breakthroughs when they start to be practical.

John

 

[Eeyore]

http://www.physorg.com/news104501218.html
Team sets solar cell record
Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very
high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led
by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined solar
cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard terrestrial
conditions.

All very interesting but likely to be monumentally expensive.

Excellent for satellites and the like though.

Graham

 

[Joel Kolstad]

Do you own anything that uses a fuel cell for power?

Mmm... no.

That has been
next year's technology for at least 50 years now. I wish people would
announce breakthroughs when they start to be practical.

Understood. I believe the problem is that these days to get funding for
research you almost have to resort to hyberpole; just telling someone you're
doing pure research that looks promising 20 years down the road doesn't cut
it.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Similar breakthroughs are announced several times per week. Not one in
ten thousand amounts to anything.

Do you own anything that uses a fuel cell for power?

Does stock in Ballard Power Systems count?

That has been
next year's technology for at least 50 years now. I wish people would
announce breakthroughs when they start to be practical.

John

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[AndyS]

It'd be nice. I wonder when it will get below, say, $1/KW.

Cheers!
Rich

Andy writes:

Solar cells will ALWAYS be the energy source of the future.....

..... and you can quote me on that !!

Andy in Eureka, Texas

 

[John Larkin]

Does stock in Ballard Power Systems count?

Negative $50 million a year... they'd make more energy by burning
dollar bills.

John

 

[John Larkin]

Andy writes:

Solar cells will ALWAYS be the energy source of the future.....

.... and you can quote me on that !!

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Stirling engines have an even more impressive history of being the
technology of the future.

Get this: reflectors driving Stirling engines!

http://pesn.com/2005/08/11/9600147_Edison_Stirling_largest_solar/

John

 

[Don Lancaster]

Stirling engines have an even more impressive history of being the
technology of the future.

John

http://www.tinaja.com/glib/ratholes.pdf

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

 

[krw]

Stirling engines have an even more impressive history of being the
technology of the future.

Hasn't more money been spent on fusion? It's always been 20-50 years
off (about one career).

Get this: reflectors driving Stirling engines!

http://pesn.com/2005/08/11/9600147_Edison_Stirling_largest_solar/

Marketeering at work. I wonder where the stock is being peddled.

 

[Ross Herbert]

http://www.physorg.com/news104501218.html
Team sets solar cell record
Using a novel technology that adds multiple innovations to a very
high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led
by the University of Delaware has achieved a record-breaking combined solar
cell efficiency of 42.8 percent from sunlight at standard terrestrial
conditions.

[snip]

Robert H.

Sounds like a parlor trick. With 20:1 concentrator optics, dichroic
wavelength splitters, and three different solar cells, it's not going
to be economic.

John

I totally agree with you John - it ain't gunna happen....

Now if we go for a lower overall efficiency (19%) I reckon sliver
cells will be far more economical - a 140W panel uses the equivalent
of 2 silicon wafers compared to 60 wafers for a conventional solar
panel of the same output.
http://solar.anu.edu.au/level_1/projects/sliver_proj.php

Also can be very thin and flexible.

 

[James Arthur]

What do you estimate to be the current cost per watt over
the life of a coal, oil, gas or nuclear fueled facility
(build, operate, fuel and decommission)?

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." --
Yogi Berra

I'm afraid I have no easy answer--that question entails a bunch of
assumptions about construction costs, interest rates, the price of
oil, politics, etc. AIUI utilities are traditionally insulated from
these factors by guaranteed profit provisions in the laws that govern
them; it's kind of a cost-plus deal.

I've seen a really good treatment of the question for nuclear power on
Wikipedia somewhere.

As a rough estimate of historical costs we can look at our power
bills--mine indicates the local cost-of-generation is 4.3 cents / kWh,
or $43 x 10^-6 per watt-hour.

Assuming that figure includes all maintenance, fuel, construction,
decommissioning, the cost of money, etc., and that the plant lasts 30
years, the cost of producing 5 Wh/day (the average output of a 1w
solar cell) comes to 5 * 43 x 10-6 * 30 * 365 = $2.35.

In fact, solar power won't be available every day, so solar cells'
output could be matched for less cost, by whatever availability factor
you wish to assume. Also, the cost of new plants may be higher (or
lower) than historically, but this guess is at least a first-order
approximation in today's dollars that includes historical inflation,
etc.

Assuming a 20 year life and 300 day-per-year availability, a $6/watt
solar cell costs $6/ (5 hours * 300 days * 20 years) = $200 x 10^-6
per watt-hour.

That solar-cell figure EXCLUDES two substantial costs:
1) maintenance, battery changes, etc., and
2) the cost of money (i.e., the interest cost on a large up-front
investment).


Obviously I erred above when I said $2 was 3x the utilities' COG. I
_should've_ said their COG is only 1/3rd of your bill, so their break-
even point is 1/3rd of the consumer's break-even point.

Best wishes,
James Arthur

 

[John Popelish]

James Arthur wrote:
(snip)

As a rough estimate of historical costs we can look at our power
bills--mine indicates the local cost-of-generation is 4.3 cents / kWh,
or $43 x 10^-6 per watt-hour.

Assuming that figure includes all maintenance, fuel, construction,
decommissioning, the cost of money, etc., and that the plant lasts 30
years, the cost of producing 5 Wh/day (the average output of a 1w
solar cell) comes to 5 * 43 x 10-6 * 30 * 365 = $2.35.

In fact, solar power won't be available every day, so solar cells'
output could be matched for less cost, by whatever availability factor
you wish to assume. Also, the cost of new plants may be higher (or
lower) than historically, but this guess is at least a first-order
approximation in today's dollars that includes historical inflation,
etc.

Assuming a 20 year life and 300 day-per-year availability, a $6/watt
solar cell costs $6/ (5 hours * 300 days * 20 years) = $200 x 10^-6
per watt-hour.

That solar-cell figure EXCLUDES two substantial costs:
1) maintenance, battery changes, etc., and
2) the cost of money (i.e., the interest cost on a large up-front
investment).


Obviously I erred above when I said $2 was 3x the utilities' COG. I
_should've_ said their COG is only 1/3rd of your bill, so their break-
even point is 1/3rd of the consumer's break-even point.

Thank you for the elaboration.