Usually solar cells collect sunlight on their entire surface, converting it to electricity at perhaps 15-19 percent efficiency \u2014 meaning about 85 percent of the energy is lost in the process. There are more efficient cells out there, but they\u2019re generally expensive and special-purpose, or use some exotic material.<\/p>\n
One place people tend to spare no expense, however, is in space. Solar cells on many satellites are more efficient but, predictably, not cheap. But that\u2019s not a problem if you only use just a tiny amount of them and concentrate the sunlight on those; that\u2019s the Insolight insight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Certainly this adds a layer or two of complexity to the current mass-manufactured arrays that are \u201cgood enough\u201d but far from state of the art. But the resulting panels aren\u2019t much different in size or shape, and don\u2019t require special placement or hardware, such as a concentrator or special platform. And a recently completed pilot test on an EPFL <\/a> roof was passed with flying colors.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wordpressdynamos.com\/timesofnewscdn\/blog\/7c336_insolight_honeycomb.jpg?resize=640%2C418&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Small but very high-efficiency cells are laid down on a grid, and above that is placed a honeycomb-like lens array that takes light and bends it into a narrow beam concentrated only on the tiny cells. As the sun moves, the cell layer moves ever so slightly, keeping the beams on target. They\u2019ve achieved as high as 37 percent efficiency in tests, and 30 percent in consumer-oriented designs. That means half again or twice the power from the same area as ordinary panels.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>\u201cOur panels were hooked up to the grid and monitored continually. They kept working without a hitch through heat waves, storms and winter weather,\u201d said Mathiu Ackermann, the company\u2019s CTO, in an EPFL news release. \u201cThis hybrid approach is particularly effective when it\u2019s cloudy and the sunlight is less concentrated, since it can keep generating power even under diffuse light rays.\u201d<\/p>\n