FollowYou’ve heard of record-breaking heat. Likely you were in some this summer. But what about record-breaking solar?
Solar brands all around are racing to increase solar cell efficiency, which will in turn boost competitiveness to generate more energy at a lower price for consumers.
Just this month, Trina Solar Ltd. announced a solar unit with “record” output. Trina’s panel is reported to have a peak output of 274 watts and has set a world record.
According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst, Trina’s panel output would give a cell-level efficiency of 18.7 percent. Compare that with typical efficiencies of 13-14 percent, and that’s saying a lot.
In addition, Roth & Rau AG and Day4Energy Inc. created a module that boasts 19.3-percent efficiency, a gauge of the amount of sunlight converted into power, Day4 said in a recent statement.
So, where do you, the homeowner, stand in comparing solar panel products and their efficiencies?
At the top of the picking pile. Record-shattering efficiencies are great news for consumers of solar energy, or anyone considering solar.
When cell makers squeeze more power from panels, you generate more energy for the life of your system and save that much more on utility costs each month.
Plus, on a broader scale, increased efficiencies mean that solar technology is getting incrementally better. That, of course, leads to more manufacturing and competitive pricing across the board.
You’ll have to wait just a bit longer for the 19.3-percent panels, however.
Vancouver-based Day4 says their module is too new to price for the market, and won’t quote the panel until it enters production, says spokeswoman Agnieszka Pozniak.
The company liscenses its technology to other panel makers rather than build its own products.
But innovations in solar, such as solar shingles and solar skylights, point to a hopeful future with less waste in the world, and less waste of consumer money.
Source: calfinder
