GE (General Electric) has joined hands with PrimeStar Solar, a company which develops and commercialises thin photovoltaic modules. GE has acquired a minority equity interest in PrimeStar and both the companies are hopeful that this would result in large scale commercialization of highly effective solar technology, making it low cost as well.
This deal is part of GE’s solar development and research project for which multimillion dollar grant was made available by the US department of energy to develop low cost photovoltaic technology.
Sun’s energy is available everywhere, and it is now possible to use it as power also. Just that the entire set up is costlier compared to the traditional fossil fuels.
But now thanks to new researches, thin film like solar panels are available which will cut down the price, considerably.
Solar energy has been very expensive till now due to the use of crystalline silicon in the photovoltaic technology. Although expensive and considerably thick this semiconductor has been used till now because it yields stable solar cells with efficiency.
A new technology, Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), is being used in thin-film photovoltaic modules because it has physical characteristics that make it an ideal material for the production of solar cells. More over it is possible to use this energy and make low cost solar panels as it uses little or no silicon to make panels.
It is believed that GE too would aim at CdTe to make low cost photovoltaic technology possible. It is also a known fact that CdTe has potential safety concerns attached to it; being toxic and even causing cancer. The companies would have to ensure safety before the low cost technology is made available at a large scale.
Via: Earth2Tech
