The efficiency of solar cells has improved significantly since the first modern silicon solar cell was introduced . Bell Labs released the first silicon solar cell on April 25, 1954 . It had an efficiency of about 6%, meaning that it was able to convert about 6% of the sun’s energy it collected to electricity .
While it might not seem like much, this was actually a major improvement over the previous type of solar cell, the selenium solar cell . The efficiency rating for selenium solar cells was only around 0.5% .
Since then, the bulk of the research in this area has been put toward the task of increasing the efficiency of solar cells , and reducing the cost of producing them . It’s proven to be possible, using rare materials, to create cells with up to 40% efficiency . The manufacturing cost for these cells is over 100 times greater than that of the current standard, 8% efficient cells . Production cost is possibly the greatest barrier to solar power becoming more widely used .
Under ideal conditions, the sun can provide about 1,000 watts of power per square meter . This figure is the basis for defining the production of a specific solar cell . Dust, pollution, elevation, temperature, weather and other factors can have an effect on sunlight intensity . Sunlight intensity can even be reduced on a worldwide scale and over extended periods of time due to events like volcanic eruptions . Elevation has an impact on solar cell efficiency in that greater elevation actually brings increased efficiency . This is due to the fact that , as elevation gets higher, the air gets thinner, and the effects of dust and pollution are decreased .
Multicrystalline solar cells are now commercially available, and these output at around 14-19% efficiency . However, this type of cell is not expected to improve much beyond that benchmark . Instead, many researchers are pinning their hopes on amorphous silicon cells, which are currently around 8% efficient .
At present, what would we need to do to replace all of the fossil fuel -based energy generation in the US with solar power ? To supply all of the electricity currently produced in the US , it would take a little more than 10,000 square miles of solar panels . Even now, there is enough unused desert in the US to meet this requirement .
Solar power systems, in order to provide power even when the sun isn’t shining , need to also involve some form of power storage . Many power companies are investigating “smart grid” systems involving the use of battery banks to address this problem . Batteries could also represent an answer to the problem of spikes in demand presented by hot days .
Solar cell efficiency has improved substantially , from 0.5% to as high as 40%, since solar cells were first introduced . In the last few years in particular, they’ve also become a lot more affordable .
If you are looking into installing a solar power system, you need to consider the kind of roof panel that you are going to utilize . If you are interested to know more about roof solar panels, go to Roof Solar Panels.
If you want to build your own solar panel, read these two guides Build Solar Panel and GreenDIY Energy Review.
