Go Solar Power For Homes

Despite the doom and gloom of our news media, these are extremely exciting times that we live in. We are on the edge of a major breakthrough in the field of solar power for homes. Here we’re talking of thin film solar technology.

Scientists are recognizing that, over the last 30 years, traditional residential solar panels have had several major drawbacks. They are expensive, cumbersome and relatively inefficient. Rather than sitting back feeling sorry for themselves, they have got on and developed an even better form of solar technology. Thin film solar technology.

The major problem with traditional residential solar panels lay in the fact that the key ingredient, refined silicon, is getting more and more expensive. This makes it difficult to keep the price of residential solar panels down.

Add to that the concern that, scientifically, the ingredient silicon has a number of physical limitations that affect the efficiency and potential usage of traditional residential solar panels.

So, nanotechnologists are finding solutions to make for cheap, flexible, compact, lightweight, efficient thin film solar technology using alternative chemicals and materials in order to harness solar energy.

Thin film solar technology offers more efficient alternatives to traditional silicon based residential solar panels at a lower cost per watt of electricity generated. Researchers are looking for extremely high efficiency, double or triple the 15-20% range currently targeted.

Sharp Solar recently announced their intention to increase production in thin film solar panel technology. After the completion of its factory in Katsuragi, Japan, this will take their production from 15 megawatts to 160 megawatt capacity annually.

Sharp Solar increased the second generation thin film solar panel efficiency rate to 9% and offers a rated output of up to 128 watts per solar panel. However, sadly, this thin film solar technology won’t be seen in people’s house for some time. Their efficiency levels are still considerably lower than traditional silicon based solar panels. For now they are too low to compete in the solar power for homes marketplace.

All is not lost for this new breakthrough technology though. While they cannot compete with the energy efficiency of the old-school residential solar panels, it would seem that thin film solar is better suited for projects like solar farms where huge amounts of surface area are available.

When setting up a solar power farm, space is not an issue. Here, using thin film solar technology would make sense. Its lack of efficiency is compensated for by the extra amounts of space it can cover for the considerably lower price.

If you have less surface area to work with, say a small roof for example, then clearly you would want highly efficient residential solar panels such as Sanyo HIT residential solar panels. Such residential solar panels produce significantly more watts per square foot. 

So, if thin film solar technology manufacturers want to make a world wide breakthrough, they need to significantly increase their efficiency levels. Until that time, thin film solar technology will not gain serious traction in the solar power for homes market. However, the increasing interest that industry is giving to the solar option does imply that solar farms will be the next big thing. If they catch on, as we are sure they will, then thin film solar technology will be waiting.

Equally, if the scientists can improve on their efficiency levels, then thin film solar technology could be seen just about everywhere. As we mentioned the other day, IBM researchers are predicting big things for thin film solar, seeing its positioning on sides of buildings, sidewalks, you name it, thin film solar technology will be there apparently!

The solar power for homes market is crying out for a highly efficient, dollar per watt thin film solar panel. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

From Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com.

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Info via: blog.gogreensolar.com  Pic via: solarhome.org
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