Multijunction Solar Cells – Overview and History

Ultimately, all energy even energy derived from fossil fuels is solar energy

. The difference between petrofuels and what we think of today as solar energy is that the former represents the sun's energy that has been locked up in the form of carbon for hundreds of millions of years and is released when it is burned.

New technology such as solar photovoltaic cells make direct use of solar energy as it reaches the surface of the planet. Although this is virtually pollution-free and can ultimately provide virtual no-cost energy, there have been two major drawbacks to photovoltaic solar cells: cost and inefficiency. Solar cells have historically been exorbitantly expensive, and generate relatively little in the way of usable electrical power.

However, as has been the case with the personal computer, solar energy technology is undergoing rapid changes that allow solar voltaic cells to produce greater amounts of energy at much lower costs; barring interference from federal legislators and oil company lobbyists, it is very possible that within the next few years we will be able to generate electricity from solar panels for as little as .03c a kilowatt about half of what folks are paying for hydro power in Washington State, where electricity is already inexpensive compared to the rest of the country.

One of the keys to this bright energy future is multijunction solar cells. These cells have multiple layers, each of which is "tuned" to a different part of the sun's spectrum. As you may know, the sun's rays are made up of different colors, which you can see through a prism or after a storm when water droplets in the atmosphere break up the spectrum, producing a rainbow. Each layer in one of these specialized cells captures part of the spectrum which means they are able to capture more of the sun's light and turn this into electricity.

The bottom line is efficiencies up to 40% - 4-3 times that of older types of solar panels.

Multijunction solar cells have been around for awhile, but until now, costs have been astronomical literally. They have long been used for orbiting satellites (and are used on the Mars Rover as well), because their light weight went a long ways toward offsetting the cost of getting them into outer space. Today, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy Renewable Energy Lab have achieved more than 40% efficiency using this technology, which is currently the record for such generation.

Multijunction Solar Cells Overview and History

By: Wayne Hemrick

POST COMMENT

Fifa World Cup: Goalkeepers Unhappy With New Ball 'jabulani' Says It Is Erratic, Horrible, Unpredict Web Design- New Age Publishing A New Way To Troubleshoot Centrifugal Pumps And Mechanical Seals NYC apartments in the Mid Town New York City EKEN M002-The new Google Android Apad Save Energy; Save Earth Marijuana Conference in New York Today and Tomorrow Children Can Be Fit Doing Pilates New York Successful Solar Installations Around The World Different led headlights: Lighting up your life Commercial Insulation: Saving Energy & Lowering Power Bills How Useful Is the Biomass Energy for Avoiding Pollution Web design- The New age Article