Harvesting solar energy is a great way to generate sustainable power, but unfortunately solar cells are far from being as efficient as they might be. Currently, commercially available solar cells can convert about 25 percent of sunlight into electricity, and scientists have been trying to create better solar cells for years. One milestone they have been unsuccessfully trying to reach is 50 percent conversion efficiency of solar cells. However, the start-up company Semprius might be on the right track with the stacking technique of solar cells they recently developed.
The idea to stack solar cells in order to make them more efficient is not entirely new, but Semprius has managed to make a huge leap forward with it. They have successfully demonstrated that three semiconductor materials can be stacked on top of a fourth solar cell. Such a stacked device is capable of reaching efficiencies of up to 44.1 percent. Furthermore, this stacking technique allows for the reuse of costly crystalline wafers that multijunction solar cells are grown on, which significantly reduces production costs.
The three key innovations of the technique developed by Semprius are a cheap, fast way to stack cells, a proprietary way to electrically connect cells, and a new kind of glue holding the cells together. The design of Semprius’ stacked solar cells utilizes tiny individual solar cells, each of which measures only a millimeter across. This also helps to bring down the costs while improving efficiency.
The company is certain that in three to five years, they will be able to construct solar cells that will consist of two stacked multi-junction devices, which would yield a total of five or six semiconductors. Such a device could actually surpass the magic 50 percent solar cell efficiency point.
Also, such cells would have a manufacturing capacity of 80 to 100 megawatts a year, and solar cells that can achieve 50 percent efficiency could potentially reach costs of five cents per kilowatt-hour. This is less than the current price of natural gas, which costs 6.4 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Nikola Tesla’s description in his November 5th 1901 Patent for an
Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy; Stacked, multi-layer,
multi-insulated, thin layer, organic perovskite’s and inorganic paints,
elevated in the sky for additional voltage, and the resulting magnetic
field amplifies the solar efficiency by 25%, reaching an overall 100%+
efficiency. To be clear Nikola Tesla’s Radiant Energy Receiver was a
highly polished (nano) Mica glass surface, covering highly polished
(nano) organic halogen Tin or Titanium surface for UV, even at night,
covering a strong di-electric and IR material, like nano, Tesselated
Gold, with all the materials set on a highly insulated, elevated sphere
or plate. Using hydro systems like Niagara Falls, Tesla wanted to send
all negative ions “electricity” to the Ionosphere with his Wardenclyffe
towers. He then wanted to receive the negative ions “wireless energy”
with high flying balloons. The balloons would have an aluminum and iron
oxide surface ,that accumulates negative ions into AL3+ to AL11+, like
the Hindenburg’s balloon surface. Then, with a tether, discharge the
negative ions to the top of Telsa’s Radiant Energy Receiver..
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Great idea
Residential solar power is cost effective now, thanks largely to net metering. Homeowners can expect to pay about 8 cents per kilowatt-hour over the life of a solar panel system. Of course, you can only get this pricing when you buy a system from a more affordable solar contractor.