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To: Madharry who wrote (42858)	6/9/2008 2:58:41 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 57684

15% conversion is as good as it gets actually. Some silicon is at 22% conversion now, but thats the very high end chips, and when you really start to measure the efficiency what you find is that silicon (all silicon) pretty much shuts down in clouds and only works in direct sunlight. For some reason, thin film works well in the clouds you you can actually be in a place where 15% thin film actually outperforms the 20% silicon- for cheaper. The real problem with solar isn't the efficiency though. It is the storage of the energy for use when the sun isn't out. Thats a problem - when we buy stock in the PV companies we are not addressing this since PV companies including FLSR etc only build the panels. Ausra has much more of an end to end solution apparently where they store the energy they made during the day.

To: Madharry who wrote (42858)	6/10/2008 5:13:34 PM
From: gpowell	Respond to of 57684

Solar cells are very efficient, but only over a narrow band within the total spectral energy output of the sun. This is an inherent limitation of these materials. Don't expected 15% to suddenly go to 80% through a change in processing methods - that won't happen. Over their "turned band" total energy conversion can be upwards of 80%. Look for someone pairing solar energy with fuel cells - the so-called green solution. I should add that the most important factor should not be efficiency - but the mean-free time to failure for the panel as a whole.