Good to install Solar Panel now ?

[Coronita]

What is the life expectancy of a good solar panel? Just curious. 10 years or is it more?

[an]

[quote=ucodegen]

I wouldn’t say it will always be a problem. Right now, the efficiency is in the teens and twenties. I think, when solar tech matures, we’ll get much higher efficiency numbers.

Not really. The reason why has to do with quantum physics. Each photon (quanta of light) has energy that is proportional to its frequency (hv with h being Planck’s constant and v being the frequency of that particular color of light). Sunlight has several ‘colors’ of light within it, therefore several different energies. Additionally each of these photons of different energies will yield a different voltage when converted to electricity. The last sentence is why it is not possible to go too much further in efficiencies. With a pair of wires, only one voltage can be generated. This means that photons with energies below the threshold (output voltage – barrier voltage) will be reflected or turned into heat. Photons with higher energies will convert to electricity but the energy above the conversion energy will be converted to heat.

There have been attempts to fix this with multi-layer, multi-tap solar cells, but these also have issues.

Moores law does not apply to everything.[/quote]
So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

[an]

[quote=ucodegen]

I wouldn’t say it will always be a problem. Right now, the efficiency is in the teens and twenties. I think, when solar tech matures, we’ll get much higher efficiency numbers.

Not really. The reason why has to do with quantum physics. Each photon (quanta of light) has energy that is proportional to its frequency (hv with h being Planck’s constant and v being the frequency of that particular color of light). Sunlight has several ‘colors’ of light within it, therefore several different energies. Additionally each of these photons of different energies will yield a different voltage when converted to electricity. The last sentence is why it is not possible to go too much further in efficiencies. With a pair of wires, only one voltage can be generated. This means that photons with energies below the threshold (output voltage – barrier voltage) will be reflected or turned into heat. Photons with higher energies will convert to electricity but the energy above the conversion energy will be converted to heat.

There have been attempts to fix this with multi-layer, multi-tap solar cells, but these also have issues.

Moores law does not apply to everything.[/quote]
So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

[an]

[quote=ucodegen]

I wouldn’t say it will always be a problem. Right now, the efficiency is in the teens and twenties. I think, when solar tech matures, we’ll get much higher efficiency numbers.

Not really. The reason why has to do with quantum physics. Each photon (quanta of light) has energy that is proportional to its frequency (hv with h being Planck’s constant and v being the frequency of that particular color of light). Sunlight has several ‘colors’ of light within it, therefore several different energies. Additionally each of these photons of different energies will yield a different voltage when converted to electricity. The last sentence is why it is not possible to go too much further in efficiencies. With a pair of wires, only one voltage can be generated. This means that photons with energies below the threshold (output voltage – barrier voltage) will be reflected or turned into heat. Photons with higher energies will convert to electricity but the energy above the conversion energy will be converted to heat.

There have been attempts to fix this with multi-layer, multi-tap solar cells, but these also have issues.

Moores law does not apply to everything.[/quote]
So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

[an]

[quote=ucodegen]

I wouldn’t say it will always be a problem. Right now, the efficiency is in the teens and twenties. I think, when solar tech matures, we’ll get much higher efficiency numbers.

Not really. The reason why has to do with quantum physics. Each photon (quanta of light) has energy that is proportional to its frequency (hv with h being Planck’s constant and v being the frequency of that particular color of light). Sunlight has several ‘colors’ of light within it, therefore several different energies. Additionally each of these photons of different energies will yield a different voltage when converted to electricity. The last sentence is why it is not possible to go too much further in efficiencies. With a pair of wires, only one voltage can be generated. This means that photons with energies below the threshold (output voltage – barrier voltage) will be reflected or turned into heat. Photons with higher energies will convert to electricity but the energy above the conversion energy will be converted to heat.

There have been attempts to fix this with multi-layer, multi-tap solar cells, but these also have issues.

Moores law does not apply to everything.[/quote]
So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

[an]

[quote=ucodegen]

I wouldn’t say it will always be a problem. Right now, the efficiency is in the teens and twenties. I think, when solar tech matures, we’ll get much higher efficiency numbers.

Not really. The reason why has to do with quantum physics. Each photon (quanta of light) has energy that is proportional to its frequency (hv with h being Planck’s constant and v being the frequency of that particular color of light). Sunlight has several ‘colors’ of light within it, therefore several different energies. Additionally each of these photons of different energies will yield a different voltage when converted to electricity. The last sentence is why it is not possible to go too much further in efficiencies. With a pair of wires, only one voltage can be generated. This means that photons with energies below the threshold (output voltage – barrier voltage) will be reflected or turned into heat. Photons with higher energies will convert to electricity but the energy above the conversion energy will be converted to heat.

There have been attempts to fix this with multi-layer, multi-tap solar cells, but these also have issues.

Moores law does not apply to everything.[/quote]
So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

[ucodegen]

So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

The efficiencies will not go up much more, but the costs will slowly come down. Presently, inverters/controllers and installation costs are a increasing portion (percentage wise) of a solar installation. I suspect this will continue for a while as panel costs are dropping. Presently there is a large distribution of efficiencies from 10% to 23%.. this distribution will narrow.

One thing that can drive the costs down is that if thin film efficiencies can approach the efficiency of mono-crystalline. Presently there is more than a 2:1 ratio in efficiency between thin-film and mono-crystalline photovoltaics. There also little known about the lifespan of thin-film. I suspect the costs on thin-film are going to drop fairly rapidly. It will be harder to drop the price on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline photovoltaics because the costs of making highly refined/purified silicon wafers, though I know of some Chinese companies that are attempting to drive down the costs of producing refined silicon ingots.

I suspect we will see more innovative applications though.

[ucodegen]

So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

The efficiencies will not go up much more, but the costs will slowly come down. Presently, inverters/controllers and installation costs are a increasing portion (percentage wise) of a solar installation. I suspect this will continue for a while as panel costs are dropping. Presently there is a large distribution of efficiencies from 10% to 23%.. this distribution will narrow.

One thing that can drive the costs down is that if thin film efficiencies can approach the efficiency of mono-crystalline. Presently there is more than a 2:1 ratio in efficiency between thin-film and mono-crystalline photovoltaics. There also little known about the lifespan of thin-film. I suspect the costs on thin-film are going to drop fairly rapidly. It will be harder to drop the price on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline photovoltaics because the costs of making highly refined/purified silicon wafers, though I know of some Chinese companies that are attempting to drive down the costs of producing refined silicon ingots.

I suspect we will see more innovative applications though.

[ucodegen]

So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

The efficiencies will not go up much more, but the costs will slowly come down. Presently, inverters/controllers and installation costs are a increasing portion (percentage wise) of a solar installation. I suspect this will continue for a while as panel costs are dropping. Presently there is a large distribution of efficiencies from 10% to 23%.. this distribution will narrow.

One thing that can drive the costs down is that if thin film efficiencies can approach the efficiency of mono-crystalline. Presently there is more than a 2:1 ratio in efficiency between thin-film and mono-crystalline photovoltaics. There also little known about the lifespan of thin-film. I suspect the costs on thin-film are going to drop fairly rapidly. It will be harder to drop the price on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline photovoltaics because the costs of making highly refined/purified silicon wafers, though I know of some Chinese companies that are attempting to drive down the costs of producing refined silicon ingots.

I suspect we will see more innovative applications though.

[ucodegen]

So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

The efficiencies will not go up much more, but the costs will slowly come down. Presently, inverters/controllers and installation costs are a increasing portion (percentage wise) of a solar installation. I suspect this will continue for a while as panel costs are dropping. Presently there is a large distribution of efficiencies from 10% to 23%.. this distribution will narrow.

One thing that can drive the costs down is that if thin film efficiencies can approach the efficiency of mono-crystalline. Presently there is more than a 2:1 ratio in efficiency between thin-film and mono-crystalline photovoltaics. There also little known about the lifespan of thin-film. I suspect the costs on thin-film are going to drop fairly rapidly. It will be harder to drop the price on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline photovoltaics because the costs of making highly refined/purified silicon wafers, though I know of some Chinese companies that are attempting to drive down the costs of producing refined silicon ingots.

I suspect we will see more innovative applications though.

[ucodegen]

So, you think solar tech is no longer in its infancy but it’s already matured and it can’t get much better? I hope you’re wrong.

The efficiencies will not go up much more, but the costs will slowly come down. Presently, inverters/controllers and installation costs are a increasing portion (percentage wise) of a solar installation. I suspect this will continue for a while as panel costs are dropping. Presently there is a large distribution of efficiencies from 10% to 23%.. this distribution will narrow.

One thing that can drive the costs down is that if thin film efficiencies can approach the efficiency of mono-crystalline. Presently there is more than a 2:1 ratio in efficiency between thin-film and mono-crystalline photovoltaics. There also little known about the lifespan of thin-film. I suspect the costs on thin-film are going to drop fairly rapidly. It will be harder to drop the price on mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline photovoltaics because the costs of making highly refined/purified silicon wafers, though I know of some Chinese companies that are attempting to drive down the costs of producing refined silicon ingots.

I suspect we will see more innovative applications though.

[an]

ucodegen, since you’re very knowledgeable in this area, can you give me your take on this? http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Panel-Breakthrough—Twice-the-Efficiency-at-Half-the-Cost&id=1327077. They’re claiming twice the efficiency with 1/2 the cost, using transistors, which HP has recent just invented.

Then there’s this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/breakthrough_solar_panel_technology_a_12_year_old. Is this a hoax or is it real? This is coming from a 12 year old. I can only imagine what he’ll think of when he’s 22.

These are the kind of innovation I’m referring to.

[an]

ucodegen, since you’re very knowledgeable in this area, can you give me your take on this? http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Panel-Breakthrough—Twice-the-Efficiency-at-Half-the-Cost&id=1327077. They’re claiming twice the efficiency with 1/2 the cost, using transistors, which HP has recent just invented.

Then there’s this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/breakthrough_solar_panel_technology_a_12_year_old. Is this a hoax or is it real? This is coming from a 12 year old. I can only imagine what he’ll think of when he’s 22.

These are the kind of innovation I’m referring to.

[an]

ucodegen, since you’re very knowledgeable in this area, can you give me your take on this? http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Panel-Breakthrough—Twice-the-Efficiency-at-Half-the-Cost&id=1327077. They’re claiming twice the efficiency with 1/2 the cost, using transistors, which HP has recent just invented.

Then there’s this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/breakthrough_solar_panel_technology_a_12_year_old. Is this a hoax or is it real? This is coming from a 12 year old. I can only imagine what he’ll think of when he’s 22.

These are the kind of innovation I’m referring to.

[an]

ucodegen, since you’re very knowledgeable in this area, can you give me your take on this? http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Panel-Breakthrough—Twice-the-Efficiency-at-Half-the-Cost&id=1327077. They’re claiming twice the efficiency with 1/2 the cost, using transistors, which HP has recent just invented.

Then there’s this: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/breakthrough_solar_panel_technology_a_12_year_old. Is this a hoax or is it real? This is coming from a 12 year old. I can only imagine what he’ll think of when he’s 22.

These are the kind of innovation I’m referring to.

[Author]

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