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From the original press release (http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/unsw-researchers-set-world-record-solar-energy-efficiency http://newsroom.u
by adwn 12y ago
From the original press release (http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/unsw-researchers-set-world-record-solar-energy-efficiency http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/unsw-res...):
"The new results are based on the use of focused sunlight [...]"
So it has the usual drawbacks of focused photovoltaics: you need tracking in two dimensions, scaffolding, and active cooling of the PV cells.
- ChuckMcM 12y agoExactly, and what does '40%' conversion mean in this case? Are you collecting twice as much light and focussing it on half the number of cells? Or is there a silicon junction that can convert 40% of the light energy that is incident on it?
- adwn 12y ago> Or is there a silicon junction that can convert 40% of the light energy that is incident on it? This. The main benefit of concentrated solar power is that the area of the photovoltaic cells can be a lot smaller than the area of the collector (on the order of 100-1000 times). This in turn allows having expensive, but highly efficient PV cells, so you can convert 40% of the insolation on a given area to electricity, instead of only 20%. A side-benefit is that you can actually use the waste heat from cooling the cells. The ETH Zürich is doing research on this, I think.