Homeowners and RE Industry Folks Take Note: Major Solar Milestone is Here
Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Agent Realtor® Shane O’Gorman
For years alternative energy research has been held to a stand still. This can arguably be attributed to effective lobbying by the oil industry. In fact I would say this has been the single greatest reason why little to no progress has been made in alternative energies.
The main problem with solar has always been its inefficiency. It is too expensive to produce and takes too long to pay for itself. While it is true that eventually it does pay, for most the upfront costs outweigh the long term benefits.
Now a major milestone has been achieved:
Solar Power Reaches a Magical Milestone — 25% Efficiency
Jason Mick (Blog) – October 24, 2008 7:41 AM
A long awaited solar power milestone for unconcentrated silicon PV cells has been reached, thanks to steady improvement and research
While many traditional fossil fuel technologies show slow growth in efficiency and design, solar power has instead yielded steady and rapid advances. While many question why a “killer app” solar product has not yet reached the market after years of hype, it is hard to deny the fact that solar costs both subsidized and unsubsidized have been dropping dramatically, being halved every 10 years.
With current costs ranging from 15 to 20 cents per kWh, and wholesale coal power costs between 1.5 and 2.5 cents per kWh (and nuclear in a similar range — 1.7 cents per kWh by estimates from the Nuclear Energy Institute), solar still has a ways to go and likely a few decades before being ready for full deployment. Still, few technologies show the rapid growth in efficiency solar has and few utilize such a common resource as silicon, so the value of ongoing solar research is apparent.
UNSW’s ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence reported a significant milestone this week, with the announcement of the world’s first 25 percent efficient unconcentrated solar silicon cells. They had previously held the 24.7 percent efficient silicon cell record, but were denied the 25 percent milestone due to gaps in the understanding of sunlight and its effect on silicon.
You can read the rest of the story here.
I think solar is definitely something to keep an eye on. As the article suggests, the main component of solar panels is silicon, in other words sand. So there is really no limit to where this technology can take us.v
