{"id":7954,"date":"2018-03-02T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T12:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954"},"modified":"2018-03-02T13:33:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T12:33:09","slug":"one-thing-learnt-week-new-types-solar-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954","title":{"rendered":"One thing we have learnt this week – new types of solar cells"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read a very interesting article in the Guardian this week that got me thinking about\u00a0 types of solar cells.\u00a0 The main article was that silicon solar cost reductions were falling away and this opened the door for new types of solar namely Perovskite types.<\/p>\n

Reviewing the different types and how they work before we get to this new potential type.<\/p>\n

How do they work.<\/strong>\u00a0 A very simple explanation which applies to all types, the materials maybe the different but the underlying physics is the same.\u00a0 Taking silicon types.\u00a0 Edmund Bequerel discovered the photo electric effect in 1839 and Einstein got a Nobel prize for his explanation of it.\u00a0 Certain materials (and there are quite a range of them) when exposed to light the photons cause electrons to be freed from the material (e.g. silicon).\u00a0 In a pure material this is useless since the electron is recaptured easily.\u00a0 However you can change the behaviour by doping the silicon.\u00a0 Silicon has 4 electrons in outer orbital by adding small amounts of phosphorous with 5 electrons in its outer shell you give it one electron with nothing to do which can be liberated by light and move around.\u00a0 This is known as N-type.\u00a0 By doping with boron you do the opposite there is a shortage of electrons and a positive charge can move (P-type).\u00a0 Both can be liberated by light and are laid on top of one another (a semiconductor).\u00a0\u00a0 The charges liberated by light have desire to move from one side to the other to equalise charges.\u00a0 This is a current which can be used.\u00a0 All types work in the same way.\u00a0 The light has to be pretty specific wavelengths (just the right energy) do this for specific materials.\u00a0 These main types are.\u00a0 (Note many have been combined which raises efficiency).<\/p>\n

Silicon<\/strong>.\u00a0 The most common type in the world today.\u00a0 The graph below shows this success.\u00a0 In 2004 when we got our first system we were thought of as eccentric and there was barely 4GWp worldwide now the total is over 300GWp (source various) and you cannot go anywhere without seeing a roof covered in modules.<\/p>\n

\"Graph<\/a>The a number of disadvantages to this technology.\u00a0 The first is it takes a lot of energy to make the cells.\u00a0 The raw silicon must be purified by heating to a molten state.\u00a0 This has led to the incorrect rumour that these cells never return the energy used to make them.\u00a0 This is not true.\u00a0 In actual fact the energy return has improved and the efficiency of energy conversion has increased (see next graph below).\u00a0 The theoretical maximum is about 29%.<\/p>\n

\"1024px-PVeff(rev171030)\"<\/a>One major disadvantage is that convert at the red end of the spectrum and so require bright sunlight.\u00a0 Another is the cells have to be cut very thin which is not easy.\u00a0\u00a0 There are two types monocrystalline and polycrystalline.\u00a0 Mono are more efficient and more expensive and work slightly more cross spectrum.\u00a0\u00a0 One major advantage is their longevity.\u00a0 Both have 25 year guarantees.\u00a0 Also they can be recycled into new cells.<\/p>\n

Thin film<\/strong>.\u00a0 This includes a raft of technologies including one silicon and the phrase relates to the fact that the layers are far thinner. \u00a0 Lots of these are transition metal based such as copper indium gallium diselenide.\u00a0 They have a number of advantages in that they use less material and energy to make.\u00a0 They can also be rolled out into thin layers so could be used on walls windows etc.\u00a0 They have never really caught on and make up about 15% of the market.<\/p>\n

Amorphous silicon.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is a silicon based technology that is thin film with lower purity silicon.\u00a0 The advantages are it uses recycled materials from the electronics industry.\u00a0 They also work far more cross spectrum.\u00a0 This means that they work as well on a cloudy day as a sunny day.\u00a0 The disadvantages are they are less efficient with shorter guarantees.\u00a0 They have been failure issues particularly in hot countries.<\/p>\n

Organic.\u00a0<\/strong> Organic molecules can absorb photons and liberate them as a semiconductor.\u00a0 Lots of different types are under development.\u00a0 The advantages are those of thin film.\u00a0 The disadvantage is that the efficiencies and life are lower.<\/p>\n

Perovskite types.<\/strong>\u00a0 Technically a thin film (as you see there is overlap between the different types).\u00a0 Perovskite is a mineral but this is not used to make the cells.\u00a0 The word relates to the 3D arrangement of atoms not the materials used.\u00a0 The advantages are as thin film.\u00a0 The disadvantages are that getting large sheets of this material are challenging.<\/p>\n

New types of solar cells are being worked on all the time but silicon is very dominant that its difficult for new technologies to break through.\u00a0 Are argument in the article was that new types of solar cells are required since the cost reductions in silicon are slowing down.\u00a0 Is this really true?<\/p>\n

"Price<\/a>The pace is lower but looking at the graph these reductions are still huge in % terms and certainly many believe these reductions will continue (such as the Fraunhofer institute)<\/a>.\u00a0 New types of solar cells will still find it difficult to break through.\u00a0 In addition many new types of solar cells are best combined with silicon anyway.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read a very interesting article in the Guardian this week that got me thinking about\u00a0 types of solar cells.\u00a0 The main article was that silicon solar cost reductions were falling away and this opened the door for new types … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,4,176],"tags":[177,51],"class_list":["post-7954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-thing-we-have-learnt-this-week","category-renewables","category-solar","tag-solar","tag-solar-energy-payback"],"yoast_head":"\nOne thing we have learnt this week - new types of solar cells - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954\",\"name\":\"One thing we have learnt this week - new types of solar cells - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-02T12:33:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One thing we have learnt this week – new types of solar cells\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"description\":\"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"One thing we have learnt this week - new types of solar cells - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954","name":"One thing we have learnt this week - new types of solar cells - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-02T12:33:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-of-solar-capacity-2018-300x239.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=7954#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One thing we have learnt this week – new types of solar cells"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/","name":"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","description":"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7954"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7964,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions\/7964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}