Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Research Brief: Technology could bring high-end solar to the masses
(My apologies if this has been posted before. I searched in vain.)
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/07/24/high-end-low-cost-thin-film-solar-cells/
[font face=Serif][font size=5]Research Brief: Technology could bring high-end solar to the masses[/font]
By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | July 24, 2013
[font size=3]BERKELEY — Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an inexpensive new way to grow thin films of a material prized in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries, an achievement that could bring high-end solar cells within reach of consumer pocketbooks.
…
“Performance is everything in the solar cell industry, but performance at a reasonable cost is key,” said Javey, who is also a faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “The techniques we are reporting here should be a game-changer for III-V solar cells, as well as for LEDs.”
Top of the line photovoltaics are made from a class of material known as III-V (pronounced “three-five”) compounds, known for their superior efficiency at converting light into power. However, the complex manufacturing requirements for III-V materials make them up to 10 times more expensive than silicon, limiting their use to military applications and NASA satellites, the researchers said.
The UC Berkeley researchers demonstrated that indium phosphide, a III-V compound, could be grown on thin sheets of metal foil in a process that is faster and cheaper than traditional methods, yet still comparable in opto-electronic characteristics.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02275By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | July 24, 2013
[font size=3]BERKELEY — Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an inexpensive new way to grow thin films of a material prized in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries, an achievement that could bring high-end solar cells within reach of consumer pocketbooks.
…
“Performance is everything in the solar cell industry, but performance at a reasonable cost is key,” said Javey, who is also a faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “The techniques we are reporting here should be a game-changer for III-V solar cells, as well as for LEDs.”
Top of the line photovoltaics are made from a class of material known as III-V (pronounced “three-five”) compounds, known for their superior efficiency at converting light into power. However, the complex manufacturing requirements for III-V materials make them up to 10 times more expensive than silicon, limiting their use to military applications and NASA satellites, the researchers said.
The UC Berkeley researchers demonstrated that indium phosphide, a III-V compound, could be grown on thin sheets of metal foil in a process that is faster and cheaper than traditional methods, yet still comparable in opto-electronic characteristics.
…[/font][/font]
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...that headline is the sort that makes me want to 
.
"Technology will bring technological artifact to the masses"
I mean, how else would any expression of technology become part of mainstream life? Metaphysics?