U.S. Department of Energy: Concentrator Solar Cell at 40% Efficiency
December 6th, 2006This is a big, BIG deal.
I’ve always thought that: A) They have not one, but several solutions; and B) They’ve had these solutions for decades. When I suggested these things in the past, some of you wrote to me and told me to get my head examined, take off the tinfoil, etc.
Well, how does 40% solar/electric conversion efficiency grab ya!? The efficiency barriers that have stood for decades with solar are now gone. And this is just what They decided to admit to having… as the energy situation is starting to hit the wall. What do They really have?
Via U.S. Department of Energy:
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This 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.
“Reaching this milestone heralds a great achievement for the Department of Energy and for solar energy engineering worldwide,†Assistant Secretary Karsner said. “We are eager to see this accomplishment translate into the marketplace as soon as possible, which has the potential to help reduce our nation’s reliance on imported oil and increase our energy security.â€
Attaining a 40 percent efficient concentrating solar cell means having another technology pathway for producing cost-effective solar electricity. Almost all of today’s solar cell modules do not concentrate sunlight but use only what the sun produces naturally, what researchers call “one sun insolation,†which achieves an efficiency of 12 to 18 percent. However, by using an optical concentrator, sunlight intensity can be increased, squeezing more electricity out of a single solar cell.
I’m glad I waited to get my solar panels. Last year we got serious about it, but even with the 50% tax rebate incentives it just wasn’t worth the money. Just a few thousand dollars on new windows an efficient wood stove has saved us loads in energy costs. When/if these become available, it will be a no-brainer. Unless, of course, we need to get an ID chip implanted under the skin in order to get the rebates.
40.7 Percent Efficient Solar Cell Announced By DOE…
Via Cryptogon:
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world…
Don’t hold your breath.
Dya think the DOE is ever going to SHARE the concentrating solar technology with us poor hapless ameoba Americans – who paid for the development of this specific technology, among many others with our tax dollars? Dream on brothers and sisters.
Remember the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles the DOE had with Ford, GM,Chrysler? Yeah, after BILLIONS of dollars were spent do you know what the end product of that project was? A freaking battery. And only “Gawd” knows where that battery is. Ford ended up buying the technology from Toyota for their hybrid.
Give me a freakin break.
DOE has funded and then cancelled more promising “alternative energy” projects re solar, wind WHATEVER because they are not “cost feasible.” The prevailing yardstick for DOE regarding feasible technology – NO MATTER HOW PROMISING – has ALWAYS been whether a new technology and its cost of energy it produces per unit is LESS than the price of a barrel of oil.
SO I SAY FUGGED ABOUT IT – don’t even think that concentrating solar power will EVER be available at the shopping mall nearest you. MOST of the energy saving technologies that are developed with tax payer dollars never make it through the “system” so that it could be shared with us poor saps who paid for its development with our tax dollars to begin with. Its always big coal and big oil who win – or I think I should say have won in the energy game.
A fly on the wall told me the DOE contract (US taxpayer dollars) that went into developing the the solar concentrating power resided with Bechtel; a furry, fuzzy ameoba if there ever was one – that snorts U.S. tax dollars for “technology development” faster than I can write the word cocaine. Do ya think Bechtel doesn’t GET PEAK OIL? Bechtel has BAILED on Iraq and the grand neocon scheme of domination for world oil. COSTS TOO DAMN MUCH in blood for oil.
Its a big game of energy poker going on out there friends. When there’s a buck to be made at your expense in a game where the winner gets all the POWER (patents, licenses,etc.) don’t be looking for handouts. The closest thing I think I’ll see of solar concentrating power in my lifetime is using a microscope in the sun.
Actually, one of the things the article says is that the new technology promises cheaper solar energy. I personally know of several very promising solar collector technologies that promise even more efficiency than this, and which can be pursued by small operations. The solution is out there, we just need to go get it. Moreover, even the less-efficient photovoltaics commonly available are good enough to replace all the power we presently get from oil, which is about 6 TW (six trillion watts) presently and would be about 8 TW in 2020. About 9 TW falls on the Mojave desert alone; about 251 TW falls on the Gobi; about 2,500 TW on the Sahara; and there’s plenty more desert available, for example in Arabia and Australia. Three orders of magnitude provides plenty of leeway to compensate for low collector efficiency and transmission losses.
http://216.250.183.124/science/power/solar/desert-solar-calc.html
http://peakoil.com/fortopic1698-0-asc-15.html
Here’s how to stop the construction of coal fired power plants in the US.
Everyone write this letter:
To my electric power company,
I draw the line here. This is my commitment. My future power will be generated by sustainable and safe technology. I am considering no longer purchasing power from your company. I am considering installing my own power generation equipment. I am considering helping others build and install their own windmills and solar panels. And I am even considering supporting, or even helping start local alternative energy companies all over the country.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can do the right thing – and build alternative power generators instead of coal fired power plants. Personally, I’d rather not be bothered with having to generate my own power. But I will not continue to support a system that perpetuates the production of tons of deadly pollution, strip mining ecocide, and Global warming devastation.
You haven’t fooled me, with your “clean†coal stories. I know that 90% of the coal fired power plants in America’s immediate plans for construction are not even close to clean – and that nobody has yet to build even one truly “clean†coal power plant.
You haven’t fooled me with your “cheap†coal stories. Once we build all of these coal fired power plants, and commit to decades of coal dependency, it’s obvious the price of coal will go up – and in fact, there’s a substantial risk of Enron style price gouging.
You also haven’t fooled me with your “cheaper than alternative energy†stories. We taxpayers are stuck with the bills for all of the subsidies and tax breaks that make coal fired power plants appear cheaper. If our government had any common sense, coal would be heavily taxed and alternative energy would be subsidized. Someday soon, this will happen, and coal won’t be so cheap anymore. But most importantly, no matter how cheap coal may appear on your ledgers, we all know that coal is far more expensive to everyone and every thing on Earth in the long run.
Much more than your bottom line is at stake – but your bottom line is at stake. Your decision to build coal fired or alternative power generators will determine my, and many others’ decision to purchase power from you. Please, make the right decision. And don’t try to fool me with nuclear power until you’ve figured how not to generate nuclear waste.
Thank you,
Address __________________________________
_____________________________
City, State, Zip _____________________________
The biggest enemy of all electronics (and especially photovoltaic arrays) is heat. Above 30C, PV efficiency falls very quickly, and concentrator cells already have a very short useful lifespan in all but cold climates, thanks to concentrating heat as well as light. In this laboratory demonstration, the concentrator cell was refrigerated to keep it at optimal conditions…..not exactly a real world application.
Fusion, plasma, and even primitive life have also been created in a laboratory setting, yet these are still decades (or more) away from actual implementation, as well.
In short, nothing to see here, move along.
Does anyone have any insight into the probability of Nanosolar thin-film printing technology working?
http://www.nanosolar.com/
[…] This wind development will supply only 1% of total energy used in the UK, but it demonstrates the type (and scale) of things the Megamachine can do to survive. AND it’s not even really against the wall yet. AND they’re only using decades old technology so far. This is the problem with all the Peak Oil theories about how “renewables” will never be able to make much a difference to the energy situation. I’d ask the people pushing those theories to consider the stuff in the secret government crypts and quasi covert, corporate labs—with connections to the Pentagon—that are just starting to unfurl… […]
Fallout: Can you cite support for your blanket assertion that efficiency falls off rapidly above 30 degrees centigrade for all PV technologies? I strongly doubt your claim.
Fallout: Moreover, it’s obvious that thermal production is not necessarily a bad thing; heat is a usuable form of energy, after all.
This development of the 40.7% concentrator cell is major step to achieving cost-effective solar systems, not just because of the world record conversion efficiency, but also because it brings attention to the fact we should focus on concentrators and not flat plate PV.
Our company uses the currently available Spectrolab 37.3% efficient solar cells. These cells were tested under laboratory conditions using 25° C., but we use them under actual field conditions at 60° C. Yes, they operate more efficiently at lower temperatures.
At 500X concentration, we use an active cooling system and acquire the thermal energy as a second profit center. The technology for these concentrator cells were funded by the DOE (us), so the technology is free for anyone to use and develop. Besides Spectrolab, the other company producing these high efficiency cells is Emore Corporation.
In volume production of 800 kWs, our cost to install is $4.00/watt (using low labor rates). If we could manufacture our own cells or experience very large production volumes, then it would be very easy to reduce installed costs to less than $3.00/watt. Right now, the solar cell itself represents from $.54 to $1.34/watt of the total system cost depending upon the volume purchased.
This is a wonderful development and our current total PV/thermal system conversion rate of 60% will only get better as the development of this concentrator cell increases.