Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
MIT startup develops high-efficiency solar cells
By siliconindia
|
Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 21:00 IST
Bangalore: A solar startup from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1366 Technologies claims that it can produce a very efficient solar cell from silicon and expects it to be in the market in two years. The company plans to disclose the details of its Self-Aligned Cell (SAC) architecture, a set of technologies it has developed to convert 18 percent of sunlight to electricity with polysilicon, the most common solar cell material.
"Engineers forecast that they will be able to hit 19 percent efficiency in the next nine months without adding significant cost to existing processes," said Ely Sachs, Chief Technology Officer of 1366 Technologies. Started in early 2008, the company had to shift its business strategy from making solar panels themselves to selling equipment to other manufacturers, reports CNET News. "The poor financing environment and the intense price pressure on panel makers prompted the company to change course," said Sachs.
Though there are others who make solar panels with higher efficiency, the company says that the technology it has developed can be added onto to existing processes and are complementary with each other. Some are related to trapping more light on the solar cell while another uses a different method for wiring cells together.
The efficiency rating for the majority of commercially available silicon solar cells is in the 15 percent range. Panels using cells made from alternative materials, such as a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide (CIGS), have lower efficiency - about nine percent or 10 percent - but are cheaper to produce.
