An article on your site (Solar innovations see the light thanks to NSERC grant, April 19) paints a very misleading picture of the current state of photovoltaic technology.
First of all, the article states: “Just two years ago, it was common to purchase solar cells with only 0.01 per cent efficiency. Today, the conversion rate of popular silicon cells hovers around 6 per cent.”
In fact, silicon solar cells have reached 20 per cent efficiency in the late 1980s and current commercial panels have efficiency in the high teens. SunPower holds the efficiency record for a commercial producer with cells rated greater than 22 per cent efficiency.
Further, while 10 per cent efficient CIGS cells may be commercially viable, it is not a huge breakthrough. A company in Silicon Valley has commercialized flexible CIGS cells with greater than 10 per cent efficiency for some time already.
Finally, the Earth-abundant solar cell material made from copper, zinc, tin and sulfur has been known as CZTS for many years in the field. Therefore, I am certain that this term was not coined by the team mentioned in the article.
I regret to see the article contains misleading info without a bit of research in this field.
Chris Liao
Photovoltaic researchers