More bang for the solar cell buck.A solar cell solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of silicon crystal. When light strikes the exposed active surface, it knocks electrons loose from their sites in the crystal. made of amorphous silicon Silicon that does not have a crystalline structure and which is not conductive. Contrast with polysilicon. has set a new record for efficiency, converting 13 percent of the light energy it absorbs into electricity. Higher efficiency means that fewer cells are needed to power a given device (SN: 4/16/94, p. 255). The cell, made by United Solar Systems solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the most massive part of the solar system, containing almost 99.9% of the system's total mass. Corp. in Troy, Mich., consists of three component cells stacked on top of one another. Each component is designed to absorb a different color of light, with the top, middle, and bottom segments capturing blue, green, and red light, respectively. Improvements on the bottom component, on the junction between the top and middle components, and on a layer of indium tin oxide Indium tin oxide (ITO, or tin-doped indium oxide) is a mixture of indium(III) oxide (In2O3) and tin(IV) oxide (SnO2), typically 90% In2O3, 10% SnO2 by weight. on the topmost surface of the cell helped boost overall efficiency, says Jeffrey Yang yang (yang) [Chinese] in Chinese philosophy, the active, positive, masculine principle that is complementary to yin; see yin, under principle. , a researcher at United Solar Systems. Amorphous silicon solar cells are much less efficient than cells made of single-crystal silicon, but they are also much cheaper to make. United Solar Systems, Solarex in Frederick, Md., and Canon Japan in Tokyo plan to begin mass-producing amorphous silicon solar cells this year. |
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