Scientists and researchers around the world have been trying to come up with a low cost solar cell that is both efficient and easy to manufacture in order to make solar energy affordable for the common people. Now, a team at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology’s (EMPA) Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics, led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has come up with a copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CGIS) solar cell with an efficiency rate of 18.7%.
This new invention by the Swiss scientists has the potential to lower the cost of solar energy drastically. This latest breakthrough also brings them closer to the highest efficiency level achieved by crystalline silicon and rigid CIGS cells. The highly efficient solar cells will bring down the cost of solar energy and make them ideal for use in demanding applications such as solar facades and portable electronic devices.
Via: Gizmag
