Australians set solar cell efficiency record

William Atkins
Tuesday, 01 September 2009 18:21

Science - Energy

The solar cell produced by the Green team, by itself, was able to convert up to 46% of light into electricity.

However, then this silicon cell was combined with four other solar cells, which were optimized for different parts of the solar spectrum, the five cells together converted 43% of the sunlight into electricity.

This world record of 43% was 0.3% better than the previous solar cell efficiency record.

Light is absorbed differently depending on its type. For instance, blue light (visible light in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum) is absorbed very strongly on the surface of a cell.

However, red light (infrared radiation) is only weakly absorbed on the surface so special design features must be used to capture it as efficiently as possible.

Dr. Green comments: “Our group’s silicon cell was the key contributor to the new result." [UNSW]

In October 2008, the UNSW group headed by Dr. Green reported the first silicon solar cell to achieve a 25% efficiency mark. In less than one year, they have increased this percentage by 18%, from 25% to 43%.

For additional information, check out the October 31, 2008 UNSW article “Magic Solar Milestone Reached.”