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Don Lancaster <don@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>For pv solar to become a viable net energy source, an installed cost
>down around fifteen cents per watt will be needed.
There was a short news bite on ABC tv news (here in Australia) recently
about Perth PV researchers having demonstrated how they have slashed the
cost of PV cells by 80%. They take the Si wafer and instead of making from
it a round PV cell they slice it up into thin whiskers (I could see how one
flexed easily as he waved a whisker around in the air) and then reassemble
these Si whiskers after mounting onto a base into a pattern covering about
the same area as a conventional (say, 10 wafer) panel. The implication
being that the Si from one wafer extended this way will generate the same
electrical power as the conventional panel comprising many whole wafers.
Anyone here know more of this? I think they said that it would be 18 months
before panels carrying such economical cells would be in production.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
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