EcoFactor: New solar panels by Day4 Energy claim to be more efficient than traditional solar panels and would cut the cost of solar energy by 25%.
New Solar panel technologies are cropping up pretty quickly across the globe. With a boom in solar technology, the solar panel companies are trying to increase the efficiency of solar panels and reduce costs to stay competitive. This trend is not only good for a planet that needs to switch over to clean energy, but would help cut down the growing energy prices. Day4 is a start-up firm in Canada that has announced a new and revolutionary solar panel design which cuts down on costs of solar energy. The new panel increases efficiency of solar panels from 14% to 17 % by using copper wires instead of bus bars in the panels.
Traditionally, the series of photovoltaic cells are attached by bus bars which take up space and increase heat. The use of copper wires allows more space for light to interact with the photovoltaic cells and produces more energy. The company is also introducing an electrolyte to further increase efficiency. The new technology will also cut down the price of solar energy from $4 to $3 a watt.
The Dark Side:
While the new solar panels are already in production phase, they will still take another 18 months to hit the market. The technology could very well become outdated in such a long time. Moreover, 17% is still not an efficiency that is high enough to make solar energy really competitive with fossil fuel energy.
Via: Ecolect
