One of the major reasons why the world is not taking up solar energy as rapidly as it should is because of the simple fact that the initial installation cost is too much to take. In the past decade or so, the prices of the raw material to prepare solar panels has gone soaring high and it is one of the reasons why the industry is growing at a rate that is far slower that the one predicted and projected by the early boom. With competition for raw material growing, it makes total sense that new solar cells are being built by companies that require basically less Silicon.
One company that has come up with a finished product, which has a lot less Silicon than normal, is Solaria. Solaria’s solar panels are thin strips of silicon spaced apart on molded plastic, together with some other extra materials. The plastic visible in between the strips can collect light and funnel it onto the silicon to produce energy. These modified solar panels can generate 90 percent of the power traditional solar panels can. Despite being less efficient, Solaria’s panels, in time, could be 10 to 30 percent cheaper than their competitors’ products.
Subsequent improvements on the panels are also possible, such as placing thicker wires in between silicon strips for more efficient energy collection. The first Solaria panels have already started shipping to select customers. If the initial run is successful, the rest of us might be seeing this new solar panel design quite soon. This might not mean much in the short term growth of the industry but further research in such fields and an enhancement in the efficiency of these panels that use less Silicon for making might mean that we are in for a cheaper solar future. That can only mean that we are in for a greener tomorrow thanks to companies like Solaria.
