Record setting 40.7% efficient solar cell
Posted By RichC on December 7, 2006
Wow … not that long ago we were excited when efficiently advancement in solar cell technology hit 20 percent, now a Department of Energy funded research company has doubled that. According to the Alexander Karsar at the DOE, Boeing-Spectrolab achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance.
According to the DOE, the “breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nation’s energy mix.”
The approach to achieving these impressive results has to do with using an optical concentrator to increase the intensity of the sun prior to hitting a solar cell. The structure is referred to as a “multi-junction solar cell” which is made up of several layers which capture part of the sunlight as it passes through the cell.
These new cells are make up of “multi-junction gallium arsenide-based solar cell devices,†multi-layered solar cells which converted about 16 percent of the sun’s available energy into electricity. In 1994, DOE’s National Renewable Energy laboratory broke the 30 percent barrier, which attracted interest from the space industry. Most satellites today use these multi-junction cells.
With the help of advancements like this, the Bush administration’s Solar America Initiative (SAI) may be able to meet the goal of producing enough power for two million homes by the year 2015 at a cost of only 5 to 10 cents per kilowatt/hour of zero-emission solar energy. (link for more information)
Not to be outdone by Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi and Honda when it comes to 2008 ‘clean’ diesels here in US, BMW AG also plans to sell diesel cars in 2008 too, according to the 
questions from committee senators during today’s confirmation hearings. I found his candor surprising considering he was appointed by President Bush. His comments did seem middle of the road since when asked if “we were winning in Iraq” his answer was a single word — “no.” He was given a brief amount of freedom by Senator Lieberman to offer some thoughts on working toward unity if we were to be successful in an overall struggle against terrorism. He suggested that bipartisan support was needed much like we had during the long running cold war with the Soviet Union. 
Contrary to what 70% of American motorist think, not all gasolines are equal when it comes to protecting the internal parts of your car’s gasoline engine. Pat Goss from 
for many Americans contemplate their propensity to over-eat … and probably make that worthless New Years weight-loss resolution too? Most know that regular exercise and better eating habits are the answer, but only a minority have the discipline to control our tendency to over-eat. Amidst the many scams, gimmicks, pills, etc, help might be on the way in the form of a drug that is showing promise in Europe … a drug called 
My son came home and demonstrated the “scared pepper” — surface tension of water experiment today. I’m not sure I fully understand the ‘science’ behind the dish washing soap and water, but from an offset printing background we depend on surface tension and even enhance it with isopropyl alcohol or a substitute to dampen aluminum and polymer printing plates. As I recall, the molecular bond on the surface of water is like a very thin skin … visualize it like the bubbles you blow. When the soap hits the “bubble,” it bursts and takes the pepper with it. Whatever happens, it just another one of those interesting school experiments.
One advantage of a “desultory” blog is that there are very few topics too far out to blog on. Last night I caught a ‘news teaser’ from local