According to TreeHugger, graphene could offer 60% solar cell efficiency if it were to replace silicon in PV panels. As they note : ” Researchers from the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain have just published results from their experiments.”
” While their results so far will probably be more useful to make better image sensors, they still show promise for third-generation solar cells which could, in theory, reach efficiencies in the range of 60% (!),“
As current efficiency levels for commercial panels are below 20 percent, you can imagine the boost this could be to solar. As a matter of fact, when it will happen, it will bring a total paradigm shift.
No wonder that improving solar efficiency is aggressively being researched.
Current research has pushed the efficiency of solar PV panels to 33.9% then to 39.2% and a third time by 43.5%. The current record is of 44 percent.
All these increases and records only took place in just a couple of years. So today’s announcement do not seem so far-fetched when you know that 50% efficiency is just a matter of time.
The fact that companies such as Boeing or Sharp are working to improve the technology gives us a strong hint at how solar is and will be booming. Grid parity being already there is also an tremendous market signal…
Exciting times, exciting times indeed for solar !
