Aluminum Studded Solar Panels

Has succeeded in replacing the silver in its solar cells with aluminum.
Aluminum studded solar panels. As an example of how aluminum is affecting the solar power industry this article from pv magazine highlighted that natcore technology inc. This development has been made without sacrificing any of the performance of the silver solar cell. Aluminum is helping to make solar energy a viable alternative. An international team has devised the unusual cell format in a bid to improve cell efficiency without a significant cost increase.
Most solar cells used in homes and industry are made using thick layers of material to absorb sunlight but have been limited in the past by relatively high costs. The aluminum secret behind low cost solar panels. Most conventional solar cells are made with relatively thick layers of sunlight absorbing materials but designs and deployments have often been limited by significant costs. Scientists at the imperial college london have shown that the efficiency of solar panel designs can be improved by up to 22 percent by covering their surface with aluminum studs.
Sunflex solar crossed the energy department s radar a couple of years ago when it nailed down a slot in the agency s american. Rows of aluminum studs have been shown to enable solar panels to extract significantly more energy from sunlight than cells with plain flat surfaces.