Better cells: A new design for solar panels (top) improves their efficiency. Each panel is made of arrays of square solar cells. A conventional solar cell (bottom) requires thick silver contacts that block light and reduce cell performance. The new design uses a novel electrode that eliminates these silver contacts.
Day4 Energy
A new solar panel could lower costs and improve efficiency.
By changing the way that conventional silicon solar panels are made, Day4 Energy, a startup based in Burnaby, British Columbia, has found a way to cut the cost of solar power by 25 percent, says George Rubin, the company's president.
The company has developed a new electrode that, together with a redesigned solar-cell structure, allows solar panels to absorb more light and operate at a higher voltage. This increases the efficiency of multicrystalline silicon solar panels from an industry standard of about 14 percent to nearly 17 percent. Because of this higher efficiency, Day4's solar panels generate more power than conventional panels do, yet they will cost the same, Rubin says. He estimates the cost per watt of solar power would be about $3, compared with $4 for conventional solar cells. That will translate into electricity prices of about 20 cents per kilowatt-hour in sunny areas, down from about 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, he says.
Other experimental solar technologies could lead to much lower prices--indeed, they promise to compete with the average cost of electricity in the United States, which is about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. But such technologies, including advanced solar concentrators and some thin-film semiconductor solar cells, probably won't be available for years. Day4's technology could be for sale within 18 months, the company says.
In conventional solar panels, the silicon that converts light into electricity is covered with a network of silver lines that conduct electrons and serve as connection points for soldering together the individual solar cells that make up a panel. The network consists of rows of thin silver lines that feed into thicker wires called bus bars. Day4 replaces these bus bars with a new electrode that consists of rows of fine copper wires coated with an alloy material. The wires are embedded in an adhesive and aligned on a plastic film. The coated copper wires run on top of and perpendicular to the thin silver lines, connecting them to neighboring cells. The new electrode conducts electricity better than the silver lines, resulting in less power loss. It also covers up less of the silicon than the bus bars, leaving more area for absorbing light.
A startup is selling cylindrical solar cells that can generate more power than conventional panels.
Thin but efficient solar cells use one-tenth the silicon of conventional cells.
Integrating solar cells into building materials could make solar power more attractive to homeowners.
ps: we pay around 14c a KWh in Dallas Texas.
I agree that solar power does need not achieve 10c per KWH to reach a point of inflection. The equation would be more like
Current cost per KWh - govt subsidy (like in Germany) - carbon footprint offset (likely regulation in US after election) <= spot electricity rate (remember california power debacle in 2002)
shri
What do you mean by usd 3 per watt? Is that price of the solar cell only or price of the complete system to function (solar cell, baterry, control, etc.)?
high-efficiency and low-cost polycrystalline silicon solar panel
It seems there is new technique to make the high-efficiency and low-cost polycrystalline silicon solar panel.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
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hachi
10 Comments
Reply
hador_nyc
10 Comments
Re: electricity cost
That 10 cents per KWH is only for rural areas of the US. I live in New York City, and pay 22 cents per KWH for generation. Delivery charges are about 8 cents per KWH, making the total about 30. But for apples to apples, 22 is about right. Most urban areas of the US are closer to that, and some are above.
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Guest (Bob61984)
Bad number in article...
Ten cents is the wrong number.
Ten cents is the *average* US price per kWh. (Actually a bit higher than $0.10.)
When discussing solar, either PV or thermal, one should use the peak price paid by utilities which can be 2-4 times more than ten cents.
Night time power is very cheap, often falling close to zero as there is more power generated than can be used. Sometime surplus nighttime power is simply dumped.
Solar does not need to fall to ten cents per kWh to be economically feasible. It just needs to be in the range of what utilities pay for scarce hot afternoon power from other sources.
The author should do a follow up piece and compare the cost of solar to the cost of natural gas peaking plants.
Reply
Kevin Bullis
178 Comments
Re: Bad number in article...
Solar is already competitive with conventional sources of power in some places and during some parts of the day. As Bob61984 points out, that includes peak power sources. The goal eventually is to make solar competitive with base load power all over the country so that it can economically provide a large portion of the energy mix, which is why it makes sense to talk about average electricity prices.
Of course, ultimately we'll also need a cheap storage method, so that large amounts of solar power produced during the day can be used at night.
Reply
dsc22
2 Comments
Re: Bad number in article...
We also have to take into the equation that the more people who start using this technology, means the less demand on delivered alternative, which a lot of the times translates to lower prices. If enough people go the solar route because the cost rivals today's amount of delivered energy, that may affect tomorrow's pricing and make solar not worth it anymore on a purely cost for cost scale, such as the comment about night time pricing falling to almost nothing, even though we know this is a business... delivered electricity will never be that low.
Reply
msreid
27 Comments
Re: electricity cost
I live in a major metro area of over 250,000 people and I pay between 7 and 9 cents a KwH depending on my usage amount and the time of year. It is going to be a LONG time before solar or wind can really compete with that price where I live.
Here's a map with recent state averages from last year:
http://www.think-energy.net/EIA%20Map_Average%20electricity%20cost%20by%20state_2007.jpg
It it cerainly not average for most metro areas to pay 22 cents per KwH, and if you're really paying 30 cents per KwH as a final price, you're getting hosed and should start buying gerbils to run on a wheel and provide power, because that would certainly be cheaper than how you're getting it now.
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