Australia develops world's most efficient solar panels
The UNSW solar researchers have made a number of advancements in solar energy in the past forty years, including the first photovoltaic system to achieve a conversion rate of over 20 percent in 1989. The latest breakthrough doubles that.
Australian researchers have developed a new method of using commercial solar panels that converts more electricity from sunlight than ever before.
The new photovoltaic (PV) system created by University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers converts 40 percent of solar light into electrical energy, which is a 15 percent increase over regular panels.
Laboratory tests have shown the solar cell method can convert up to 46 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. The new Australian technique works with regular commercial PV panels under normal conditions, and could potentially make solar plants more competitive with other energy sources, such as fossil fuels.
“This is the highest efficiency ever reported for sunlight conversion into electricity," UNSW Professor Martin Green said in a statement. "We used commercial solar cells, but in a new way, so these efficiency improvements are readily accessible to the solar industry."
"Martin Green hopes the technology could be adapted to be used on domestic solar panels on people's roofs in the future. They currently have just a 15 to 18 percent of efficiency."
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