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I am confised. These are 24.5% efficient. Which they claim is 20% more efficient than other commercialised panels. But over at https://www.cnet.com/home/ener
by AndrewDucker 2y ago
I am confised. These are 24.5% efficient. Which they claim is 20% more efficient than other commercialised panels.
But over at https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/most-efficient-solar-panels/ https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/most-efficien... the top-rated ones are 24.1% efficient. Which is only slightly less.
Anyone able to shed light on this?
- dambi0 2y agoThey claim the panels produce 20% more energy not that they are 20% more efficient.
- AndrewDucker 2y agoHow do they produce 20% more energy in the same area without being more efficient?
- stouset 2y agoEasy! They have a little diesel engine strapped underneath. /s
- JAlexoid 2y agoSolar panel energy production is their efficiency in converting solar radiation into electricity. So yes, they seem to be 20% more efficient in converting solar radiation into electricity. Though I have to say that this is an iterative upgrade, not groundbreaking. If they increased their efficiency by 20% in absolute terms - that would be groundbreaking.
- dambi0 2y agoIt’s one measure of their efficiency. We could also talk about their cost efficiency or their area efficiency.
- JAlexoid 2y agoSolar panel efficiency is already based on the area, just as solar radiation is measured in W per square meters.
- dambi0 2y agoInteresting thanks. So could you have a panel that is slightly more efficient in energy capture than the current best alternative but uses 20% less panel area? I’m entirely unfamiliar with how testing is performed
- mattficke 2y agoIt’s a little misleadingly worded. Looking at the original press release[1] and an earlier announcement[2] I think they mean that they have prototype versions of this panel with 29.5% efficiency, the first production version they’re talking about here isn’t at that level yet. [1]https://www.oxfordpv.com/news/20-more-powerful-tandem-solar-panels-enter-commercial-use-first-time-us https://www.oxfordpv.com/news/20-more-powerful-tandem-solar-... [2]https://www.oxfordpv.com/news/oxford-pv-hits-new-world-record-solar-cell https://www.oxfordpv.com/news/oxford-pv-hits-new-world-recor...
- AndrewDucker 2y agoThank you! That makes total sense, if they have one that's that much more effective then that's very impressive. Fingers crossed they can get that into production soon.