Australians Break Solar Power Record

August 25, 2009

In a record reminiscent of a 100-meter dash, scientists at the University of South Wales in Sydney, Australia, have created the world's most efficient solar power cell ever...by a hair.

Professor Martin Green and his colleague Anita Ho-Baillie led a team of U.S. researchers to victory with a multi-cell combination that is able to convert 43 percent of sunlight into electricity. The previous record was 42.7 percent.

To capture light at the red and infrared end of the spectrum, the researchers threw everything into the cells--gallium, phosphorous, indium, and arsenic, plus silicon. While a bunch of the semiconductors used are expensive, the scientists did raise the efficiency bar.

Ho-Baillie and Green broke a different solar record with a silicon solar cell last October. If they continue to combine their efficient cells with technology from the folks at the National Renewable Energy Lab and Emcore, maybe they'll make ones that can convert 50 percent. I can't wait for the sunny day when that happens.

Photo: The fast ones: Ho-Baillie and Green with last year's (different) record-breaking solar cells. Credit: University of New South Wales.

Comments

[Leelee]

Can you imagine the economies of scale that this form of energy could achieve? We would no longer have to fight nature to harvest energy to meet our needs but work in tandem with it.

I can't wait for that day.

[Me]

Did I read that right. Australians break record in the title, but a us team actual broke the record!

[Alyssa Danigelis]

The Australians worked with US researchers, but it was their component to this set of cells that pushed the efficiency into the record-breaking category, from what I understand.

[Leo]

What would happen if we could create purely non-polluting energy? If we just continue using more and more energy, even if clean, won't the patterns of energy transfer in the Earth be so unnatural anyway that everything will still get screwed up?

[pvinsights]

Record is a very important factor. Pvinsights, www.pvinsights.com, think that the most important is how to mass produce by this kind of technology. Without mass production, this good technolgoy can not be implemented.

[Alternative Energy news]

50 percent would be awesome. Which solar companies are they affliated with them, that can take advantage of their progress?

[Photovoltaic Cells]

I am really pleasure to read this news.
Using solar energy is very good for our earth. We are saving our earth. I heartily welcome the future to utilize more solar energy.

[Solar Power Business]

Congrats! I am pleased to hear this news.

[Solar Products]

Using solar energy is very good for our earth. We are saving our earth. I heartily welcome the future to utilize more solar energy.