A highly efficient rooftop solar panel based on space technology

Turning more sunlight into electricity


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  • 03 30, 2019
  • in Science and technology

EVEN THOUGH solar panels have improved over the years they are still not very efficient at doing their job. Standard panels using silicon-based solar cells typically convert 17-19% of the sun’s energy into electricity. It is possible to use more exotic solar cells to make panels that are some 40% efficient, but these can cost around $300 a watt compared to just under $1 for some silicon versions. Hence the better panels are used in specialist roles, such as powering spacecraft.Now, a middle way seems to have been found. Insolight, a startup from the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne, has developed a panel that uses expensive high-efficiency solar cells, but does so in such a fashion that should make its panels competitive with the standard silicon variety. The new panel has been confirmed in independent tests to be 29% efficient.

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