Energy Matters Forums

[Inspector]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... 5840408871

I wonder how soon it'll be before they're commonly-available?

[Gordon-Loomberah]

There have been lots of news items like this over about the last 15 years, from memory, often talking about UNSW solar developments/breakthroughs which are going to lead to cheap PV panels but it never really seems to happen. $/W, panels haven't reduced in cost all that much over the years, until the cheap Chinese imports started arriving on ebay.

I wonder if the new PV cells really are >60% efficient in converting sunlight into electricity, or they are including the hot water heating power in the 4X better calculation?

60% efficient panels would start to make lightweight solar powered cars look more feasible

[MichaelB]

Most of that conversion goes towards the water heating aspect rather than electricity generation with each 3.5 square metre Technique Solar Module generating 400 watts as electrical power and 1700 watts of heat power.

http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.p ... cle_id=806