Flying Too Close to the Sun?
Solar power has a history much like British summer. You think there’s a breakthrough and for a fleeting moment you’re bathed in glorious sunlight, then as quickly as it appeared, it’s gone, not to be seen again for months. So, this week another revelatory system has been announced with its inventors claiming that it overcomes many of solar technology’s drawbacks. But will it disappear without a trace like so many other ‘groundbreaking’ developments?
Since photovoltaic cells were first produced in 1954 there has been a continual push to maximise the efficiency with which it converts sunlight to useable energy. Creeping up from an initial 6% efficiency, it has taken until very recently to reach the 20% mark. But as the technology has improved and become refined the expectations have grown, and talk of 50% efficiency has been bandied around quite confidently.
Much of this has to do with the increase of funding being poured into the industry as renewable energy is seen as more than a quirky backwater of research and a potentially vital source of fuel. More funding = larger teams = quicker evolution of technology. However, the new breakthrough in solar technology developed by a team at MIT in the US has only achieved 6.8% efficiency in tests, so what’s the big deal?
Its core property is an organic dye which traps light passing through an ordinary piece of glass and channels it towards PV cells situated along the edge of the frame. This set-up, they claim, makes solar power much less expensive due to the reduced need for PV cells and also it utilises the benefits of other solar concentration systems without the need to track the sun across the sky. Again, reducing costs by doing away with costly control systems.
The dye is still in the development stage but its inventors have spoken of their confidence that it will, one day, produce 20% efficiency. They also hope to solve the problem of the dye breaking down due to sunlight exposure after three months, which would definitely help back up the economic claim!
This is a fascinating technique that will undoubtedly be of benefit to the solar power industry and I will watch its progress with keen interest. But my instinct is telling me that it is unlikely to challenge conventional photovoltaic systems in the long run. If the chief benefit of the dye technology is cost, this could eventually be matched by the traditional format of PV cells as they continue to increase in efficiency. One way of reducing cost is to change the components of the technology, but another is to increase sales by making them a more widely popular product.
Maybe I’m being a little hopeful, believing that solar panel manufacturers will be willing to reduce their margins as the volume of sales increases, but for the good of the industry it will probably need to happen. Solar power is still viewed with slight suspicion and seen as an expensive option for producing renewable energy even though its performance has improved greatly over the past few years. So hopefully the leaps in efficiency will tempt enough people to invest in solar panels and then the solar snowball can build momentum! (An appalling use of metaphor, I know.)
Enjoy the newsletter,
Richard Scott
Editor
More information...
Contact Details and Archive...
Related Articles...