[HN Gopher] Solar Cell Efficiency Table
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       Solar Cell Efficiency Table
        
       Author : wolfi1
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2023-12-30 05:31 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
        
       | AtlasBarfed wrote:
       | It's missing the most important metric
       | 
       | Cost per watt.
        
         | bruce511 wrote:
         | I agree that vost per watt is the mist important for situations
         | where the install is not space constrained.
         | 
         | On the other hand if space is a constraint, then watts per
         | square metre (which correlates with effeciency) is more
         | important.
         | 
         | Most small-scale installs are space limited. Think RVs,
         | domestic residences, boats, and so on. However large-scale is
         | likely to be capital constrained, not space constrained (large
         | plots in the desert are cheap) so in that case cost per watt is
         | the limiting factor.
        
           | nick222226 wrote:
           | It's not so simple to look at one constraint for a rooftop
           | install. When planning an install, cost per watt and watts
           | per square meter interact, as does module size, module
           | weight, low illuminance performance, durability and
           | degradation, appearance, and other factors.
        
             | jeffbee wrote:
             | It is also true that cost per watt is not entirely
             | intrinsic. If a technology finds a niche, then the cost
             | drops.
        
           | jnsaff2 wrote:
           | I would argue that efficiency is more important only in
           | offgrid applications where you absolutely need to get a
           | specific amount of energy no matter what.
           | 
           | If you are on grid but space constricted the price per watt
           | or rather LCOE is more relevant.
        
         | Retric wrote:
         | Panel efficiency and manufacturing costs alone directly equate
         | to cost per watt.
         | 
         | At 18 vs 22% efficiency means buying ~20% more land or buying
         | 20% more expensive land in a better location resulting in less
         | transmission losses etc. Higher efficiency also means spending
         | less money on mounting and solar trackers for the same output.
         | 
         | In the end different technologies means different
         | optimizations. Steel is vastly superior to wood in many ways,
         | but we build skyscrapers with one and single family homes with
         | the other.
        
           | jeffbee wrote:
           | OK but https://www.owow.com/1510-webster
        
             | Retric wrote:
             | That's not a skyscraper, a _continuously habitable high-
             | rise building that has over 40 floors[1] and is taller than
             | approximately 150 m (492 ft)._ https://en.wikipedia.org/wik
             | i/List_of_cities_with_the_most_s...
             | 
             | There's a few largely wooden structures proposed that most
             | people would call skyscrapers, but they generally use quite
             | a bit of steel.
             | 
             | PS: Some people argue for 100m because it's a round number
             | roughly in the right height range, but it's common to use
             | 150m in part because that's just a little taller than the
             | great pyramid of Great Pyramid of Giza.
        
         | cjensen wrote:
         | Yes and no.
         | 
         | Cost per watt is what you want when purchasing a panel to
         | install, and you have sufficient space for what you are
         | purchasing. A buyer's guide like that should also consider
         | longevity and reliability.
         | 
         | The link is not a buyers guide. This is simply a table of
         | efficiencies achieved by various technologies. There are plenty
         | of non-buyer's guide uses for this table. Off the top of my
         | head, this could be helpful in deciding which types of cells to
         | invested in to see if a company could reduce cost and become
         | best on a cost-per-watt basis.
        
         | Plasmoid wrote:
         | Close. It's highest Net-present value.
         | 
         | NPV of (Electricity produced - installation - maintenance +
         | residual salvage) over the lifetime of the panels.
        
       | thirdhaf wrote:
       | NREL has a great visualization for the research cell (as opposed
       | to module) side of things here: https://www.nrel.gov/pv/cell-
       | efficiency.html
        
         | mikeyouse wrote:
         | Direct link to the high resolution PDF:
         | https://www.nrel.gov/pv/assets/pdfs/best-research-cell-effic...
        
           | Keppl8R wrote:
           | Interactive Best Research-Cell Efficiency Chart
           | https://www.nrel.gov/pv/interactive-cell-efficiency.html
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-31 23:00 UTC)