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Economy

xchrom

(108,903 posts)

10. Researchers Have Reached The 40% Solar Efficiency Milestone

Reply to Tansy_Gold (Original post)

Mon Dec 8, 2014, 08:30 AM

Dec 2014

http://www.businessinsider.com/researchers-make-solar-power-40-more-efficient-2014-12

Australian researchers have worked out a way to convert more than 40% of the sunlight hitting a solar system into electricity, the highest efficiency ever reported.

The average conversion efficiency of commercial solar panels is around 20%.

The 40% mark was achieved in outdoor tests in Sydney before being independently confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at its outdoor test facility in the United States.

The work was funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and supported by the Australia-US Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics.

Some laboratory tests have seen a solar cell convert 46% of solar light into electrical energy but this Australian breakthrough works at a commercial level in the field under normal conditions.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/australian-solar-energy-researchers-have-found-a-way-to-get-40-efficiency-for-converting-sunlight-into-electricity-2014-12#ixzz3LJDNrseE

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