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Researchers at Aalto University and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya have created black silicon (silicon with nanopatterned "needles" on the surface, lowering the reflectivity) solar cells with an efficiency of 22.1%. Their research is published in Nature Nanotechnology. These solar cells can capture more light than traditional cells with the same efficiency:
"The energy conversion efficiency is not the only parameter that we should look at" explains Professor Hele Savin from Aalto University, who coordinated the study. Due to the ability of black cells to capture solar radiation from low angles, they generate more electricity already over the duration of one day as compared to the traditional cells.
"This is an advantage particularly in the north, where the sun shines from a low angle for a large part of the year. We have demonstrated that in winter Helsinki, black cells generate considerably more electricity than traditional cells even though both cells have identical efficiency values," she adds.
In the near future, the goal of the team is to apply the technology to other cell structures – in particular, thin and multi-crystalline cells.
"Our record cells were fabricated using p-type silicon, which is known to suffer from impurity-related degradation. There is no reason why even higher efficiencies could not be reached using n-type silicon or more advanced cell structures." Hele Savin predicts.
The development of the cells fabricated last year will continue in the upcoming "BLACK" project, supported by the European Union, in which Professor Savin together with her team will develop the technology further in cooperation with industry.
"The surface area of the best cells in the study was already 9 cm2. This is a good starting point for upscaling the results to full wafers and all the way to the industrial scale."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by AnonTechie on Tuesday May 19 2015, @08:30AM
Last year in October, we talked about University of California’s specially contrived composite nanomaterial that could convert a whopping 90 percent of sunlight to usable heat energy (that is further used for generating electricity via steam-based turbines). Unfortunately, the said technology has still not crossed the threshold of development phase. But when it comes to the real deal of practical efficiency, the above pictured solar electric project based in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, might just take the cake. Designed as a small-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) system by Ripasso [ripassoenergy.com] (a Swedish energy company), the installation has been tested and found to have impressive efficiency figures that pertain to 34 percent conversion rate of sun’s light into pure electricity (not heat). For comparison’s sake, a conventional photovoltaic system accounts for around 23 percent efficiency, which is further reduced to 15 percent before being used by the grid.
http://www.hexapolis.com/2015/05/18/this-solar-system-might-very-well-be-the-most-efficient-solar-based-setup-in-the-world/ [hexapolis.com]
[Also Covered By]: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/13/could-this-be-the-worlds-most-efficient-solar-electricity-system [theguardian.com]
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @09:15AM
I wonder if combining that nanomaterial with a thermoelectric device (replacing the steam-based power conversion) would still beat photovoltaic cells. Unlike a steam turbine, such a device would likely be acceptable for use at personal level (i.e. putting such a system on the roof of a house). The waste heat of the system (inevitable for every heat-based system) could then be used to heat water in the same way as with solar collectors, further increasing the total efficiency.
(Score: 3, Informative) by kaszz on Tuesday May 19 2015, @10:03AM
The solar cell efficiency record is 46% [cleantechnica.com] using a four-junction cell where each the cell’s four sub-cells converts precisely one quarter of the incoming photons into electricity, thanks to precise tuning of the composition and thicknesses of each layer inside the cell structure.
Way better that 22.1%. But the catch is price. Both in energy joule/US$ and installed capacity watt/US$.
(Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Tuesday May 19 2015, @11:47AM
"... Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ..."
Expect patents...
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday May 19 2015, @11:54AM
Thus cost ;)
If the 22.1% panels cost less than half the cost of the Fraunhofer 46% panels then for pure joule/US$ Fraunhofer will loose. Their panels will only make sense where space is at a premium.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @12:16PM
They might also make sense where space is plentiful: In space. However that may depend on the weight of those solar cells.
(Score: 2) by forkazoo on Tuesday May 19 2015, @05:38PM
"Win" and "Lose" depends on the application. For home solar, you'd never use the highest efficiency panels in the world at any given time since the price will be crazy. You can charge 100's of times the price of lesser panels for the highest efficiency ones for applications like satellites in space where spending millions on better solar panels can save you tens of millions in launch costs. For desktop calculators, you just don't need that much power, so even a few extra cents for 22% panels would be pointless. This black silicon is likely to be much more cost effective than 40+% panels for the foreseeable future. If it can be competitive with the ~18% panels that are currently common then they may take over the market for things like rooftop home solar in the next few years. Eventually four junction cells will become cheaper, but the technology is only a few years old. Black silicon has existed since the 80's, so there is quite a bit more accumulated reasearch on it at the moment, making it more likely to be closer to practical large scale production.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 19 2015, @06:01PM
> solar cell efficiency record is 46%
"... Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ..."
Expect patents...
A physical invention that turns sunlight into electricity in the most efficient manner possible. If there is anything that actually deserves a patent, that's it.