Increasing solar panel efficiency

Terry1411 · September 2016

I know much research goes into increasing panel efficiency. Has anybody looked at changing the wave length of incoming light so that a larger percentage falls in the red portion of the spectrum where it can better converted to electricity?

BB. · September 2016

A "blue photon" has more energy than a "red photon"...

There have been many people looking at improving the efficiency (and lowering) the costs of solar electric panels. But changing the wave length of the incoming light is not easy, and is probably not going to increase efficiency (generally you need something like a phosphors for change light frequency--i.e., a blue LED plus red and green phosphors make "white light").

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/questions/question/1135/

There are other methods too--Read about how green laser pointers work:

http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_lasr5.htm

Green laser pointers use Diode Pumped Solid State Frequency
Doubling technology. Our laser pointers have a Sony high
power infrared laser diode that generates light at 808nm,
which pumps a crystal of Nd:YVO4 (Neodymium-doped Yttrium
OrthoVanadate). That crystal generates light at 1,064 nm, which
feeds a KTP (Potassium Titanyl Phosphate, KTiOPO4) intracavity
frequency doubler, which produces a green beam at 532 nm.
The green beam then travels thru an output coupler, an
expanding lens, an IR filter to remove unwanted IR from the
beam, then thru a collimating lens and finally exits thru a
glass output window.

There are also drive electronics that are more complex than
those in a red laser pointer. More heat is generated than by a
red laser diode, so there is feedback that keeps the drive
current regulated. And, all of the optical components in the
green laser must be precisely aligned, so there are many more
mechanical parts than in a red laser pointer. The process of
generating a green beam from the IR light from the pump
diode is less efficient than a red laser diode directly emitting
a red beam, so batteries need to be larger to have a reasonable
operating life.

Some green laser pointers generate a pulsed beam to reduce
thermal problems and extend battery life, but new technology
allows a bright continuous beam without eating batteries. The
momentary pushbutton makes sure the laser isn't accidentally
left on.

The details of how a solar cell work is down into the quantum physics level:

http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/solar-cell-operation/spectral-response

And companies have made triple junction solar cells that are optimized to collect energy in broader spectrum:

http://www.sharp-world.com/corporate/news/121205.html

And after they figure out how to make a single cell that works well--They then have to figure out how to cost effectively manufacture such a cell/panel with low costs and long life--Not an easy task either.

-Bill

Increasing solar panel efficiency

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