Solaria: Finding Clever Ways to Make Cheaper Solar Panels
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 03.20.08
The type of silicon used in photovoltaic panels is expensive, and as long as supply is constrained, the price of electricity produced by solar panels won't be as cheap as it could be. This high price for silicon has benefits; it is an incentive for more companies to start producing the stuff, but in an industry that sees very fast growth, it is hard to catch up with demand.
In the meantime, others are working on ways to reduce the amount of silicon required in solar panels. Solaria is one of those. Their solar cells produce about 90% of a conventional solar panel's power, while using half as much silicon.
How do they do it? It's not quite as out there as hairy solar panels and moth-eyes, but it's clever: "Ordinarily, the silicon in a solar panel spans its surface, collecting light from as much area as possible. But Solaria slices the silicon into thin strips and spaces them apart so that they only account for about half the panel's area. A clear molded plastic cover collects light from the entire panel and funnels it to the strips of silicon." See below for two pics that illustrates the concept.
The savings occur because the molded plastic is less expensive than the silicon that is saved, and because Solaria uses equipment that has already been developed by the semiconductor industry instead of trying to develop its own (see pic of robotic arm below).
They claim that their first products will be competitive in price with panels produced by much larger companies, and that successive product generations will cost between 10-30% less than their competitors.
Another benefit of Solaria's approach over traditional solar panels is that the space between the silicon strips can be used to route the wires that collect the electricity, thus taking them out of the sun's way.
To date, Solaria has raised $77 million to develop its technology, with the world's largest solar cell maker, Q-Cell, acting as a primary investor.
We wish them the best of luck, and we're happy to see yet another approach to making solar cheaper. There is no silver bullet.
::Slicing Up Silicon for Cheaper Solar
See also: ::Hairy Solar Panels Could Result From Nanowire Breakthrough, ::Moth Eyes May Hold Secret to Better Solar Panels, ::Ausra: Solar Power Around the Clock, Enough for 90% of U.S. Grid, ::Torresol to Build 3 Solar Thermal Power Plants in Spain for $1.24 Billion
That's pretty clever. I wonder how well some of these advances stack on top of each other.. hairy solar planel divided in strips, etc.
It's things like this and solar-thermal solutions that will bring us to the tipping point for solar.
So, what ever happened to sunball?
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/10/sunball_-_the_w.php
Similar concept, exept bigger and uglier.
so where can i buy some? i'm ready.
Such a simple idea. Aren't they always the best.
I could see this technology being used through out the entire industry. The industry could reduce panel costs by 30% while increasing capacity. This would take panels down from ~$6/W installed now to $4.20.
An inexpensive anti-reflective coating would take that down even further to ~$4.10/W. An inexpensive UV protective coating would take it down to ~$4/W.
As more Silicon supply comes online, that number could fall to $3/W. Perhaps the tipping point?
One thing the industry could do to move towards this tipping point is to create a collective IP base so that certain critical technologies, like those mentioned above, can be utilized by all to benefit the industry as a whole. If solar becomes cheap enough, everyone will be a winner.
We discussed this in the treehugger forums earlier this week. As I said there, my biggest worry is that the plastic will haze over time due to UV exposure. Its not a matter of if, its when. If it hazes so much that it looses 50% of its output in 10 years, pure-silicon cells are still cheaper over the long run. They have a hazing problem, too, but they only loose about 10% of their output and it takes 20+ years to loose the full 10%.
Doug,
Wouldn't it be possible to build it so that the plastic layer can be changed once every X years. That could still be much cheaper than silicon.
Brian: The sun ball is now a cube!!!
http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/
It's OK but other companies have holographic flat concentrators that work in both directions, reducing the Si use even more.
But it doesn't really matter because NanoSolar is already shipping thin film solar that sells for
And for large installs, thermal solar is still cheaper and has a higher efficiency.
Solar represents less than half a percent of the world's energy today. Every solar technology has its place in the big picture. Though some technologies may be more or less efficient than others it is the combination (i.e. thin film in low-light regions, specialty high-concentrators in extremely sunny regions, proven silicon-based PV for stable power plant applications, solar paint and building integrated PV wherever the sun's rays can be caught) that will bring the world closer to clean, safe, lower cost energy in any significant way. I propose that all solar players be welcomed and encouraged to succeed!