Solar Power World

The State of the Photovoltaic Union

One might say we have come a long way since Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel’s discovery of the photovoltaic (PV) effect in 1839, Charles Fritts’ 1% efficient solar cell in 1883, and the 1954 Bell Labs PV cells which began supplanting batteries in satellites starting with the Vanguard 1 in 1958. Others would say that even Solar Junction’s 43.5% efficient concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar cell in 2011 is not enough. As the current tempest of activity in solar cell technology... Read More

NREL builds a better, cheaper solar cell

A new low-cost etching technique developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory can put a trillion holes in a silicon wafer the size of a compact disc. As the tiny holes deepen, they make the silvery-gray silicon appear darker and darker until it becomes almost pure black and able to absorb nearly all colors of light the sun throws at it. At room temperature, the black silicon wafer can be made in about three minutes. At 100 degrees... Read More

New Solar Cell Generates Electricity Via Sun’s Light & Heat

A team of scientists has invented a new type of solar cell that converts both the sun’s heat and light into electricity, potentially giving a boost to the efficiency of solar energy harvesting devices. The cell combines a photovoltaic process that turns light into electricity with another that converts heat; combined, they beat the current record for solar energy efficiency, as well as the theoretical efficiency limit of a cell of this design. The most popular type... Read More

New Solar Cell Design for CPV Cells

Interplex Engineered Products (IEP) introduced a new solar cell package design for Concentrator Solar Photovoltaic Devices (CPV) for use by manufacturers, system developers and chip makers requiring high performance, high efficiency interfacing for their CPV cells.The package design incorporates the Interplex Dual Lead-frame Design which integrates a thick copper base (heat sink) with a standard lead-frame structure in a high temperature LCP Thermoplastic enclosure. This ensures... Read More