Solar cells more efficient and economical due to copper

To be honest with a few words there are only two ways to be able to lower the cost of energy produced by photovoltaic panels: to create more efficient solar cells in order to obtain a lower production cost per square meter.

These two requirements has given a concrete answer of the German Fraunhofer ISE ETAlab whose team of researchers has managed both to lower by more than 10% the cost of replacing the finest facilities but also more expensive than silver (contained in the electrical contacts panels) with a base alloy of copper and nickel, both to improve by more than 21% of the productive performance of solar cells.

Not only that German researchers have also found that with this change, the solar cells have also become much more stable to heat so much that, after a stressful heat test at a temperature of 392 ° C maintained for 1,600 hours, they have preserved almost intact their operational characteristics of conversion of sunlight into energy.
Really a great success that opens the possibility of more concrete photovoltaic exploitation.