Solar Cells reach 42% Efficiency

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SpectroLab achieve 42% efficiency
in PV Solar Cells

SpectroLab Inc., part of the Boeing organisation, have got their "Concentrator Solar Cells" to the amazing level of 42% efficiency. Plus they expect to push that still further in the next couple of years.

This is one of two major field of play in Solar Cell development, "thin flexible film solar cells" being the other. I have covered both in previous posts.


Solid State v/s Mechanical

I believe these are among the most exciting and important segments of sustainable energy technology being developed. Many of the other development involve mechanical devices such as wind turbines etc., and as most of us know, anything with moving parts will inevitably wear-out and cause problems. Whereas with "Solar Cells" because these are "solid state" there is nothing to wear out.

Wind turbines, wave generators, bio-mass driven steam turbines, even geo-thermal, all need an army of maintenace people to keep them running. They are also technically difficult to install, have an impact on the enviornment in terms of looks, noise etc. But with solar cells you have zero noise, little difficulty in installation, and almost zero maintenance.

This is an area to watch.



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