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I use Kartoo.com and the search string photovoltaic solar cell and I learn that photovoltaic means solar in this connection. I add the word breakthrough and I get this
In the Kartoo window, I get the headline points and Technologyreview catches my attention (click) and the text is interesting. The source is MIT, trustworthy, and the reference tells that cost was/is the key problem. Now a new company has solved this. It tells, that we can expect cost to go down to 2,4$ per watt-
HYPOTYHESIS: to be competitive, a solar panel must deliver at this price or lower!
The main limitation of solar power right now is cost, because the crystalline silicon used to make most solar photovoltaic (PV) cells is very expensive. One approach to overcoming this cost factor is to concentrate light from the sun using mirrors or lenses, thereby reducing the total area of silicon needed to produce a given amount of electricity. But traditional light concentrators are bulky and unattractive -- less than ideal for use on suburban rooftops.
Now Prism Solar Technologies of Stone Ridge, NY, has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light, possibly cutting the cost of solar modules by as much as 75 percent, making them competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels.
The new technology replaces unsightly concentrators with sleek flat panels laminated with holograms. The panels, says Rick Lewandowski, the company's president and CEO, are a "more elegant solution" to traditional concentrators, and can be installed on rooftops -- or even incorporated into windows and glass doors.
The system needs 25 to 85 percent less silicon than a crystalline silicon panel of comparable wattage, Lewandowski says, because the photovoltaic material need not cover the entire surface of a solar panel. Instead, the PV material is arranged in several rows. A layer of holograms -- laser-created patterns that diffract light -- directs light into a layer of glass where it continues to reflect off the inside surface of the glass until it finds its way to one of the strips of PV silicon. Reducing the PV material needed could bring down costs from about $4 per watt to $1.50 for crystalline silicon panels, he says.
The company is expecting to pull in another $6 million from interested venture capitalists and start manufacturing its first-generation modules by the end of the year, selling them at about $2.40 per watt. Next-generation modules with more advanced technology should bring down the cost further.
In their ability to concentrate light, holograms are not as powerful as conventional concentrators. They can multiply the amount of light falling on the cells only by as much as a factor of 10, whereas lens-based systems can increase light by a factor of 100, and some even up to 1,000.
ANOTHER SOURCE,solarserver, TELLS me about profits in the industry (date 26/10 2006)
HYPOTHESIS: solar power is getting mainstream
Solar power is more in demand than ever before: photovoltaic power plants are built in ever greater numbers all over the world to transform sunlight into electrical power that, according to experts, will be able to compete with conventionally generated electricity in the medium term. At the end of the particularly hot month of July 2006, the daily rate for peak-hour electricity from coal, gas and nuclear power plants reached a high of 54 euro cents per kilowatt hour at the german electricity stock exchange (Leipzig) and thus exceeded the price for generating solar power for the first time. Within the framework of the renewable energy law, in Germany solar power is compensated with 40,6 to 51,8 euro cents per kilowatt hour. Problems with refrigerating water of some nuclear and coal power plants, as well as the increased electricity
demand for air-conditioners led to the price hike. However, prices for solar raw material silicium also exploded during the past months and led to increasing customer prices and placed new emphasis on international markets. In co-operation with the expert magazine Photon, the Solar Report zooms in on the discussion regarding module prices.
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