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Sunlight Creates Current
Photovoltaic (PV) cells transform solar energy directly into electric energy. The photoelectric effect was discovered by French physicist Alexandre Becquerel in 1839. He found that certain materials, when exposed to light or heat, release electrons, creating a flow of direct current. Semiconductors like silicon, a natural component of sand and gravel, are particularly suitable. Each thin, blue-tinted PV cell is cut from a single silicon crystal or a block of crystals. The first practical application came in the 1950s when NASA used PV cells to supply power to its satellites. Today, PV cells are in use around the world. They have an energy-conversion efficiency of between 12 and 17 percent.
Thin-film technology represents a further advance in PV. To refine this technology, E.ON is partnering with Schüco, the world's leading supplier of building envelopes. To create a thin-film module, extremely thin layers of a light-sensitive material (typically amorphous silicon) are applied to another material (glass, steel, or plastic). Though thin-film PV cells are less efficient than standard PV cells (about 6.5 percent compared with 12 to 17 percent), they're also much cheaper to manufacture. The main application for thin-film PV is the facades of large office buildings. Considering the huge surface area offered by such facades, E.ON and Schüco see considerable growth potential for thin-film PV, which is why they formed a joint venture called Malibu. Malibu's new production facility had its official opening this June. Located in northeast Germany, the roughly $100 million facility manufactures amorphous PV modules with a surface area of up to about 6 square meters (65 square feet) capable of generating up to 460 watts. The time isn't far off when buildings and homes will supply themselves with electricity generated from PV cells integrated into their exteriors. Production will be supported by a special research team at Schüco's headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany.
But thin-film PV modules are also suitable for large-scale power generation. They're easy to combine into a large array to create a PV power plant. Scientists and technicians are hard at work to reduce the modules' production costs and to increase their energy-conversion efficiency, paving the way for their commercial viability in utility-scale applications.
Thin-film technology represents a further advance in PV. To refine this technology, E.ON is partnering with Schüco, the world's leading supplier of building envelopes. To create a thin-film module, extremely thin layers of a light-sensitive material (typically amorphous silicon) are applied to another material (glass, steel, or plastic). Though thin-film PV cells are less efficient than standard PV cells (about 6.5 percent compared with 12 to 17 percent), they're also much cheaper to manufacture. The main application for thin-film PV is the facades of large office buildings. Considering the huge surface area offered by such facades, E.ON and Schüco see considerable growth potential for thin-film PV, which is why they formed a joint venture called Malibu. Malibu's new production facility had its official opening this June. Located in northeast Germany, the roughly $100 million facility manufactures amorphous PV modules with a surface area of up to about 6 square meters (65 square feet) capable of generating up to 460 watts. The time isn't far off when buildings and homes will supply themselves with electricity generated from PV cells integrated into their exteriors. Production will be supported by a special research team at Schüco's headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany.
But thin-film PV modules are also suitable for large-scale power generation. They're easy to combine into a large array to create a PV power plant. Scientists and technicians are hard at work to reduce the modules' production costs and to increase their energy-conversion efficiency, paving the way for their commercial viability in utility-scale applications.