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Spectrolab Hits 41.6% PV Cell Efficiency Record

August 31, 2009 | 5 Comments

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California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Spectrolab Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company has set a new world record for terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency. The cell can convert 41.6 percent of concentrated sunlight into electricity.

Produced in February 2008, the new Spectrolab cell is an advanced version of the lattice-matched triple-junction technology already produced in high volumes for space and terrestrial applications.

The U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, independently tested the efficiency of the Spectrolab cell in June, validating that it surpassed the previous record of 41.1 percent held by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.

"This latest record asserts Spectrolab's leadership position in high efficiency multijunction solar cells and brings the industry one step closer to achieving affordable solar electricity," said David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. "This cell is an advanced version of our lattice-matched cell technology that will be incorporated quickly and successfully into our production line. This milestone underscores our emphasis on realizing the highest efficiency cells in high-volume production."

Produced in February 2008, the new Spectrolab cell is an advanced version of the lattice-matched triple-junction technology already produced in high volumes for space and terrestrial applications at Spectrolab, which pioneered the technology more than a decade ago. The new cell incorporates multiple improvements in wafer processing to reduce metal grid shadowing and series resistance, raising the cell's overall efficiency for conversion of sunlight to electricity.

Solar Energy

5 Reader Comments

Comment
1 of 5

Anonymous

August 31, 2009

I think the highest efficiency is great, but saying that it "brings the industry one step closer to achieving affordable solar electricity", when it is probably one of the most expensive terrestrial solar cell available, seems odd. I hope it makes it into big CPV farms soon.

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2 of 5

marcusmaedl

September 1, 2009

I am curious to see whether the CPV guys can ramp up production volume fast enough to compete in cost per watt with falling silicon module prices.

The CPV technology's Achilles heel is the balance of system cost including the mandatory (precise) dual axis trackers.
My guess is that a sales price of no more than $2.00/W will be the benchmark for solar farm suitability. Exciting times...

Comment
3 of 5

Nick-Cook-83037

September 2, 2009

In answer to Marcus Maedl

If you check the FAQ's on Spectrolabs' site [http://www.spectrolab.com/prd/terres/FAQ_terrestrial.htm] the bulk buy price for their unterminated 1sq-cm cells is $10 (10MW/y qty). At this price, 500 times concentration and 41.6% this equates to about $0.48/W(peak). However from their spec sheet it should be possible to run their current (38%) production cells at 1,000 times concentration with 34% (or higher) efficiency, which works out at a tad under $0.30/W(peak).

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4 of 5

AceMac

November 11, 2009

This technology is the "ANSWER." The sun shines everywhere giving us 824 terra watts. Every other source shut up and sit down! This is chip based technology, and what do we know about chip based tech? Oh ya! What costs a dollar today is a dime tomorrow and a penny there after with efficiencies only going up. No other energy production system can make that claim or compete with it. GAME OVER! Get these chip and systems rolling!
Avery C Mac Cracken

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5 of 5

bcb

September 13, 2010

Whilst I share your enthusiasm about CPV AceMac I thought I should point out that the comparison to the microchip industry that you make is misleading. They've been able to follow an exponential cost reduction path in the main due to miniaturisation. CPV can only go so far down that road. In any case at high concentration your main cost comes from other components: trackers etc. The advantage CPV has that crystalline silicon doesn't is that it can in principle reach up to ~80% efficiency compared to ~30% for Si. It's unlikely we'd ever get there but there's a lot of room for improvement. In addition the cost of trackers, installation etc (B.O.S) has a lot of potential for cost reduction with scale along the same lines as the for example the car industry.

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