Solar cell turbocharger could boost solar power output by 50%

Scientists at Stanford University have improved the efficiency of a revolutionary solar cell by around 100 times. Unlike standard photovoltaic cells, which only capture light energy, Stanford’s new device captures both light and heat, potentially boosting solar cell efficiency towards 60% — way beyond the 30-40% limit of traditional silicon photovoltaic solar cells.

This new device uses a process called photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE). In photovoltaic cells, photons strike a semiconductor (usually silicon), creating electricity by knocking electrons loose from their parent atoms. The PETE process is similar, but also very different and altogether rather complex. In essence, think of it as the photovoltaic equivalent of a turbocharger.

So what are the real world applications this new type of Solar cell will produce or influence?

Does this mean that at last solar power will become an option for power generation on a larger more economically viable and efficient scale?

www.extremetech.com...

Originally posted by andy06shake
Scientists at Stanford University have improved the efficiency of a revolutionary solar cell by around 100 times.

By 100 times?
From what I read, they've got from "a few hundredths of a percent" to "2 percent".
So technically the statement is correct, but its still misleadling sensationalism, when a few years ago they were hyping up the potential of 60 percent.

reply to post by andy06shake


Absolutely cool!
I have some solar and when I got it, the prices were starting to drop, this was a few years ago.
I wonder if they saw this tech on the horizon and figured they'd get rid of what they had while they could.
Kind of like computers, the tech keeps getting better.
I remember the processor boom around the year 2000 AMD and Intel were duking it out and continuosly making better chips.
However, this means they better have some pretty good panels in the next 20 or so years.
Here is hoping this tech will not be suppressed.

Originally posted by alfa1
By 100 times?
From what I read, they've got from "a few hundredths of a percent" to "2 percent".
So technically the statement is correct, but its still misleadling sensationalism, when a few years ago they were hyping up the potential of 60 percent.

I think you're underestimating solar cell efficiency. Modern cells aren't far off 20% and there has been plenty of experimental technologies that push 40%: upload.wikimedia.org...