Smriti Jha
Member • Jun 19, 2014
Sharp Doubles Solar Efficiency With New Technology
#-Link-Snipped-# Sharp broke the record for the worldâs highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 37.7% and their new ambitious technology claims to double the current standard. The concept which only exists as a prototype applies exotic physics to maximize the conversion of solar energy to electricity. It is believed that the commercialization of this technology could help bring down the cost of solar panels. In theory, these solar cells could hit efficiencies above 60 percent.
The primary cause behind the inefficiency is low throughput. When sunlight strikes the cells, it generates high-energy electrons, from where the cell is supposed to harvest electricity. Only, the electrons lose that energy to waste heat within a few trillionths of a second. The workaround to this bottleneck uses a thin surface to absorb a single wavelength of sunlight. This helps the device convert most of the energy into electricity. The prerequisites undeniably also limit the device and handicap its practicality but this is the first time that the high-energy electrons have been successfully used to generate electricity. The future of this technology is reliant on nanometers-thick layers of semiconducting materials that provide a shortcut for the high-energy electrons to move out of the solar cell. #-Link-Snipped-#, one of the senior researchers involved in the development of the device, sees the technique as a reinforcement to the efficiency of conventional devices, rather than a foundation to create new ones.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
The primary cause behind the inefficiency is low throughput. When sunlight strikes the cells, it generates high-energy electrons, from where the cell is supposed to harvest electricity. Only, the electrons lose that energy to waste heat within a few trillionths of a second. The workaround to this bottleneck uses a thin surface to absorb a single wavelength of sunlight. This helps the device convert most of the energy into electricity. The prerequisites undeniably also limit the device and handicap its practicality but this is the first time that the high-energy electrons have been successfully used to generate electricity. The future of this technology is reliant on nanometers-thick layers of semiconducting materials that provide a shortcut for the high-energy electrons to move out of the solar cell. #-Link-Snipped-#, one of the senior researchers involved in the development of the device, sees the technique as a reinforcement to the efficiency of conventional devices, rather than a foundation to create new ones.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#