Efficiency Boost Should Make Solar Cheaper

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Solar energy could become more affordable following a technological breakthrough. Scientists at Australia’s University of New South Wales have boosted the efficiency of solar cell technology, potentially dropping the price of an installed solar system for an average house from around $16,500 to $12,000. (Tax breaks and other incentives would reduce it further.) Currently, up to 45 percent of the cost of solar cell technology is due to the high cost of the silicon used to convert sunlight to electricity.

Now, researchers at UNSW’s ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, led by PhD student Supriya Pillai report a 16-fold enhancement in light absorption in 1.25-micron thin-film cells for light with a wavelength of 1050 nm. They also report a seven-fold enhancement in light absorption in the more expensive wafer type cells light wavelengths of 1200 nm. The breakthrough is reported in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.

May it come to market faster than catastrophe.–JULIA WHITTY

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate