Sol Voltaics, Sweden, claims to have doubled the photovoltaic (PV) conversion efficiency of panels.
The company has announced that it has achieved the result using gallium-arsenide nanowire array.
Sol Voltaics’ claim that it has achieved 1-sun conversion efficiency of 15.3 percent in a GaAs NWA solar cell has reportedly been verified by an independent source, Fraunhofer-ISE, the largest solar research institute in Europe.
“GaAs nanowires are critical components of our low-cost film. The use of III-V materials in the PV industry has always been a goal but the costs have been prohibitive. Using Sol Voltaic’s Aerotaxy nanowire production methodology allows our III-V film to be produced at competitive cost and offering high efficiency,” Erik Smith, the CEO of Sol Voltaics said. The company is looking at improving efficiencies o up to 27 percent.
The first commercially applicable solar cells were produced in 1959. They had an efficiency of 10 percent. Today, improvement of technology is at a much faster rate primarily because the available computing resources are vast.
Sol Voltaics makes nanomaterials and nanowire material to enhance solar panel products.
These wires are like antennae embedded in a film so that they can absorb sunlight and generate electricity.
Ajith Kumar S