Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 07 July 2008 15:16
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Second in the house is a “solar module” which has a surface area that’s also approximately 26-inches in size, designed to be paired with the 26-inch low power TV.
Mounted on the roof or elsewhere in the sun, the solar module can be connected to a battery pack that is charged by the solar power, which Sharp says makes “it possible to watch TV even in areas where utility-supplied electricity is unavailable.”
Sharp continues: “An estimated 1.6 billion people are said to live in such areas worldwide, and this pairing could be expected to aid in improving the lives of these people.”
But as always, that’s not all.
The third exhibit in the house is a “Triple-junction thin-film solar cell module”.
These have multiple uses and benefits. Sharp says they’re highly cost-effective and have a high environmental performance.
This is because the “thin-film solar cell” technology uses “significantly less refined silicon than crystalline solar cells, plus the energy used when fabricating the solar cells is lower because of fewer processing steps.”
In addition, these thin solar cells use “no rare or scarce metals, or materials regulated under the RoHS Directive”. They also have the “industry’s highest level of module conversion efficiency for triple-junction thin-film solar cell modules.
The solar conversion efficiency is around 10%, which Sharp says is “the top level in the industry”, and “compared to crystalline solar cells, these thin-film solar cells generate ample electricity even in regions with high ambient temperatures thanks to their superior temperature characteristics.”
So, where can you use these thin cells?
Well, as they can be made “semi-transparent or see-through” by using a laser-trimming process to create large numbers of optically transparent slits over the surface of the cell, you can put them on lighting windows like skylights, “curtain walls” and other windows or wall surfaces, thus making them part of the building itself.
Pretty cool if you ask me!
What are the last two exhibits? Please read on to page 3!
