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Thin Film Solar Technologies
Thin film technologies are rapidly improving in efficiency and cost the main drivers being the Global drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2004 an efficiency of 11% at a production cost of $0.6 at watt with Amourphous Silicon Technology. Today with the development of Micromorph & Bio Nano technology developers are seeing efficiencies at 16% with a predicted production cost of $0.75 a watt.
The increased efficiencies are gained by broadening the light waveband spectrum sensitivity of the solar technology to capture more of the red light.
The advantages are lower production costs, less weight and volume which will impact on transportation and distribution. Thin film is currently used on Roofing , wall cladding, and glass. Thin film today is mainly installed in new builds.
The future
It is my opinion that thin film will become an imbedded technology on all new buildings and vehicles with efficiencies in excess of 30%. (Boeing is trialling embodied thin film on aircraft with an efficiency reported to be in the region of 30%) Price.
Price per watt will drop significantly due to reduced manufacturing and distribution costs and thin film being applied to the building fabrication during the manufacturing process. We will see a decrease in Invertor as the market matures. Low voltage lighting, LEDs and other low voltage appliances? will eventually negate the need for invertors as technology develops.
Additional factors
The Electricity companies are investigating the Distribution Impact of De Centralised Micro generation. Development in Buffer and Stand by Technology will also affect the market growth and system efficiencies.
About the article
| Author: | Dr Terrence Lewis (MSc, BSc) |
| Publish Date: | Monday 17th of January 2011 at 08:00 |
| Tags: | Solar, Pv, Panels, Generation, Home, Thin |
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