19.9%: New Thin Film Solar Efficiency Record

19.9%: New Thin Film Solar Efficiency Record

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created thin film solar panels that are very close to competing with their more traditional silicon-based cousins. "The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency in testing at the lab, setting a new world record."

19.9% refers to how much of the sun's light is converted to electricity by the panel. Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells have shown efficiencies as high as 20.3 percent (without concentrators...), so thin film is very close. Any fraction of a percent makes a big difference over the decades of useful life of a panel.

Cool stuff!

Interesting to see Thin-Film in the news often, thin film technology has alot of press yet consumers are yet to see a real product which they can use for thier homes/businesses at this point. I feel Nanosolar has the reputable management team to make purchasing thin film to the consumer market a reality.