Solar panels are expensive due to a number of factors: the high cost of the silicon used in the solar cells and the expense of shipping and installing the heavy panels. However, research on making solar energy more affordable is ongoing, and has already produced a number of developments that have brought down prices and resulted in relatively cheap panels.
One of these is the introduction of thin-film solar cells which, while slightly less efficient than traditional solar cells, can be made from materials other than silicon, including cadmium telluride, gallium arsenide and copper iridium diselenide.
Another promising development for producing cheap panels is cells made of cadmium indium gallium selenide (CIGS); researchers recently produced a CIGS cell that had an efficiency of nearly 20 percent - close to that of silicon panels. Also in the works is a nanosolar powersheet: solar cells that are as thin as a sheet of aluminum foil and which can be manufactured for as little as thirty cents per watt compared to the current $3 per watt of even the most inexpensive solar panel.
A related field of research is concentrating photovoltaic technology, which uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate more sunlight onto highly efficient solar cells. Some companies developing the technology have confidently predicted that solar panels using this technology would soon produce electricity at just $0.05/kilowatt-hour, making it competitive with conventional electricity sources.
But producing cheap panels is just part of the problem of reducing the cost of solar systems to the point where they would be cost-effective enough to be widely used by regular households. One of these issues is the difficulty of wiring a house for solar electricity, since they produce DC current but home appliances use AC. Researchers are trying to make cheap solar panels compatible with existing home systems by using microinverters in individual panels, which convert the output to AC; wireless monitoring systems can also be added to monitor the performance of each panel.
One of these is the introduction of thin-film solar cells which, while slightly less efficient than traditional solar cells, can be made from materials other than silicon, including cadmium telluride, gallium arsenide and copper iridium diselenide.
Another promising development for producing cheap panels is cells made of cadmium indium gallium selenide (CIGS); researchers recently produced a CIGS cell that had an efficiency of nearly 20 percent - close to that of silicon panels. Also in the works is a nanosolar powersheet: solar cells that are as thin as a sheet of aluminum foil and which can be manufactured for as little as thirty cents per watt compared to the current $3 per watt of even the most inexpensive solar panel.
A related field of research is concentrating photovoltaic technology, which uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate more sunlight onto highly efficient solar cells. Some companies developing the technology have confidently predicted that solar panels using this technology would soon produce electricity at just $0.05/kilowatt-hour, making it competitive with conventional electricity sources.
But producing cheap panels is just part of the problem of reducing the cost of solar systems to the point where they would be cost-effective enough to be widely used by regular households. One of these issues is the difficulty of wiring a house for solar electricity, since they produce DC current but home appliances use AC. Researchers are trying to make cheap solar panels compatible with existing home systems by using microinverters in individual panels, which convert the output to AC; wireless monitoring systems can also be added to monitor the performance of each panel.
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