In
world first, researchers convert sunlight to electricity with over 40 percent
efficiency
UNSW Australia's solar researchers have converted over 40% of
the sunlight hitting a solar system into electricity, the highest efficiency
ever reported.
The record efficiency was achieved in outdoor tests in Sydney,
before being independently confirmed by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) at their outdoor test facility in the United States.
"This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight
conversion into electricity," UNSW Scientia Professor and Director of the
Advanced Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) Professor Martin Green said.
"We used commercial solar cells, but in a new way, so these
efficiency improvements are readily accessible to the solar industry,"
added Dr Mark Keevers, the UNSW solar scientist who managed the project.
The 40% efficiency milestone is the latest in a long line of
achievements by UNSW solar researchers spanning four decades. These include the
first photovoltaic system to convert sunlight to electricity with over 20%
efficiency in 1989, with the new result doubling this performance.
"The new results are based on the use of focused sunlight,
and are particularly relevant to photovoltaic power towers being developed in
Australia," Professor Green said.
Power towers are being developed by Australian company, RayGen
Resources, which provided design and technical support for the high efficiency
prototype. Another partner in the research was Spectrolab, a US-based company
that provided some of the cells used in the project.
A key part of the prototype's design is the use of a custom
optical bandpass filter to capture sunlight that is normally wasted by
commercial solar cells on towers and convert it to electricity at a higher
efficiency than the solar cells themselves ever could.
Such filters reflect particular wavelengths of light while
transmitting others.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the achievement is another
world first for Australian research and development and further demonstrates
the value of investing in Australia's renewable energy ingenuity.
"We hope to see this home grown innovation take the next
steps from prototyping to pilot scale demonstrations. Ultimately, more
efficient commercial solar plants will make renewable energy cheaper,
increasing its competitiveness."
The 40% efficiency achievement is outlined in a paper expected
to be published soon by the Progress
in Photovoltaics journal.
Story
Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by University of New South Wales. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length.
Cite
This Page:
University of New South Wales. "In world first, researchers
convert sunlight to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency." Science Daily,
7 December 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141207091648.htm>.
