Solar engineers have developed a method to improve the quality of low-grade silicon, which promises to significantly improve electrical efficiency and reduce the cost of solar panels.
The mechanism controls hydrogen atoms, so they can better correct deficiencies in silicon. This process will allow lower-quality silicon to outperform solar cells made from better-quality materials.
Standard commercial silicon cells presently have a maximum efficiency of around 19%. This new technique is expected to produce an efficiency of between 21% and 23%.
Read more at The University of New South Wales