Low Cost Solar Cells - The Role Of The Plastic Solar Cell
Discover how low cost solar cells can help your cut down your solar power project costs.
As the hunt for residential solar power continues to rise. More and more homeowners are seeking out ways to control solar electric residential cost.
Thus, they are looking into the feasibility of low-cost solar cells.
Solar Manufacturers Are Placing A Lot Of Research And Effort Into Making Low Cost Solar Cells.
Many of the advances in low-cost solar cell production involve printing solar cells on plastic.
The techniques used for the production of the plastic solar cell is analogous to using an ink jet printer to print them en masse.
The Plastic Solar Cell Has Both A Size And Cost Advantage
- Plastic solar cells are about 1/3 the cost per watt of a silicon solar cell type.
- Plastic solar cells are also about 1/5 to 1/6th the cost, with promise that they'll drop to under 1/10th of the cost in a few years as the manufacturing process improves.
The Dye Sensitized Solar Cell - Another Cheap Solar Cell Alternative
Plastic (or dye sublimated) solar cell types are generally much lighter, and can be printed on flexible surfaces.- Many solar visionaries are talking about printing them onto the surface of cars to boost electric vehicle performance.
- Though the power density makes this more of a pipe dream than a practical application, there are also efforts to use low cost production mechanisms.
Solar Cell Ruggedness: The Case For The Low Cost Solar Cells
One side effect of exploring the creation of lower cost solar cell types is that they can also be ruggedized.
The push for ruggedized solar cell types has lead to innovative products like solar cell types embedded into window shades, or shingle-style solar cell types.
The Birth Of Solar Shingles
While solar shingles first came out in the 1970s, the comparative fragility of them meant that weathering would cause them to crack and lose their conversion performance.
Newer solar shingles, made from a more flexible substrate mechanism trade efficiency for weather tolerance, are also easier to install.
Though solar shingles require a bit more forethought than regular asphalt shingles,they are a lot less work to put into place than other solar cell types.
Here's to finding a way to bring more solar power into your family!
P.S. Here's a few more tips to help your solar power projects go smoothly...
6 Tips To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Solar-Electric Residential Buck |
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Silicon Solar Cells - 5 Things You Need To Know About Getting Them To Perform Their Best |
