Cheap organic solar cells
01 Jun '18 19:107 editshttps://techxplore.com/news/2018-04-solar-cells-efficiency-benchmark-commercialization.html
"...At 15 percent efficiency and given a 20-year lifetime, researchers estimate organic solar cells could produce electricity at a cost of less than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. In comparison, the average cost of electricity in the U.S. was 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2017...
...
Organic solar cells incorporate carbon into their construction to offer several advantages over conventional "inorganic" cells. Silicon-based inorganic solar panels are costly to make—composed of thick, rigid sheets that require fixed installation points.
But carbon-based organic solar cells could be inexpensively manufactured in rolls that are thin enough to bend and curve around structures
...
Despite setting record efficiency, the team believes they can push their progress even further.
"We can improve the light absorption to increase electric current, and minimize the energy loss to increase voltage," Che said. "Based on calculations, an 18-percent efficiency is expected in the near future for this type of multijunction device."
..."
I think this is the strategy to use.
With all else being equal, obviously, yes, the more energy efficient the solar cell the better.
But what really counts at the end of the day isn't the energy efficient but the cost effectiveness.
It is nice to know the cost effectiveness of the most cost effectiveness solar energy is improving all the time with incremental improvements in the technology.
No doubt eventually organic solar cells will be developed to have 90% energy efficiency as there is nothing in the laws of thermodynamic that forbids that and there are no insurmountable barriers. It's just a question of when, not if. Then it would be MASSIVELY cost effective!
"...At 15 percent efficiency and given a 20-year lifetime, researchers estimate organic solar cells could produce electricity at a cost of less than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. In comparison, the average cost of electricity in the U.S. was 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2017...
...
Organic solar cells incorporate carbon into their construction to offer several advantages over conventional "inorganic" cells. Silicon-based inorganic solar panels are costly to make—composed of thick, rigid sheets that require fixed installation points.
But carbon-based organic solar cells could be inexpensively manufactured in rolls that are thin enough to bend and curve around structures
...
Despite setting record efficiency, the team believes they can push their progress even further.
"We can improve the light absorption to increase electric current, and minimize the energy loss to increase voltage," Che said. "Based on calculations, an 18-percent efficiency is expected in the near future for this type of multijunction device."
..."
I think this is the strategy to use.
With all else being equal, obviously, yes, the more energy efficient the solar cell the better.
But what really counts at the end of the day isn't the energy efficient but the cost effectiveness.
It is nice to know the cost effectiveness of the most cost effectiveness solar energy is improving all the time with incremental improvements in the technology.
No doubt eventually organic solar cells will be developed to have 90% energy efficiency as there is nothing in the laws of thermodynamic that forbids that and there are no insurmountable barriers. It's just a question of when, not if. Then it would be MASSIVELY cost effective!
