cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24690127
Solar energy experts in Germany are putting sun-catching cells under the magnifying glass with astounding results, according to multiple reports.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems team is perfecting the use of lenses to concentrate sunlight onto solar panels, reducing size and costs while increasing performance, Interesting Engineering and PV Magazine reported.
The “technology has the potential to contribute to the energy transition, facilitating the shift toward more sustainable and renewable energy sources by combining minimal carbon footprint and energy demand with low levelized cost of electricity,” the researchers wrote in a study published by the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.
The sun-catcher is called a micro-concentrating photovoltaic, or CPV, cell. The lens makes it different from standard solar panels that convert sunlight to energy with average efficiency rates around 20%, per MarketWatch. Fraunhofer’s improved CPV cell has an astounding 36% rate in ideal conditions and is made with lower-cost parts. It cuts semiconductor materials “by a factor of 1,300 and reduces module areas by 30% compared to current state-of-the-art CPV systems,” per IE.
Yeah the problem has always been that solar panels only really like to operate within a very narrow temperature band. It’s why you can’t just plate the Sahara desert in solar panels. In theory that would generate loads of power but the heat of the desert is way outside of their operating range.
There’s been loads of ideas to heat/cool solar panels, the problem up until now has always been to do that without cutting into the panel’s efficiency so much that it isn’t worth doing.
But there’s been videos on YouTube of people cooling solar panels with plasma cooling and phase change materials for a few years now.
I’ve been thinking about getting solar for a while, how bad is the efficiency loss at -30C to -20C?
They gain efficiency at lower temps. Cool, clear days are best. At negative 20C you’re looking at ~15-20% increase in power output from the panel itself. Look for the “temperature coefficient” on a solar module spec sheet.