Energy Matters’ views on solar panels made from black silicon
Energy Matters offer views on solar panels made from black silicon. The solar panels on the general market only convert around 15 - 20% of the sun's rays into electricity. Silicon makes an excellent visible light detector, but it's unable to detect other wavelengths commonly found in nature.
An ultra-sensitive form of silicon called black silicon could approach the theoretical limit of converting around 30% - 40% of sunlight into electricity.
The material was actually discovered by Eric Mazurin in 1998. It is produced by exposing normal silicon with a very short laser pulse - one billionth of a millionth of a second. The material is a highly disordered surface resembling a forest of short spikes. The resulting structure offers far more surface area for exposure to the sun.
Mazur's black silicon is sensitive to various wavelengths and produces an electrical response to light that is approximately 500 times normal silicon. It's also able to absorb infra-red radiation, which makes up around 25% of the energy coming from the sun.
The nature of black silicon also allows for the production of thinner cells and given the global silicon shortage and consequent price increases for the material, more solar panels can be made with less silicon and with improved efficiency.
Mazur's company SiOnyx, recently unveiled the production of the first commercial-grade black silicon wafers.
24-Oct-2008