Solar panels to go 3D
By Trevor Curwin, Special to
With the solar energy industry booming, companies large and small continue to look for ways to squeeze efficiencies out of decades-old technology. So why not 3D technology?
Santa Barbara-based startup wants to harness concepts found elsewhere in high tech to increase the capture of more of the sun鈥檚 energy hitting solar panels and turning it into electricity.
鈥淥ur inspiration comes from fiber optics,鈥� says Solar3D CEO Jim Nelson. 鈥淭hey manage the light to make it do what they want it to do, versus [flat] solar [panels] that just takes it as it comes.鈥�
Though the first solar photovoltaic PV panels were installed in the U.S. in 1970s, the majority of systems installed today don't look that much different: flat-glass panels pointed at the best possible angle toward the sun.
That surface, however, means sunlight photons can pass through only once 鈥� and either hit an energy-generating cell or miss it, thus passing though unused.
Nelson says his firm鈥檚 technology uses 3D microcells that trap sunlight, allowing those photons to 鈥渂ounce around鈥� until they are all converted into electricity.
鈥淲e鈥檙e plugging the leak in [solar-panel] efficiency through absorption,鈥� he says, 鈥淲e believe our Solar3D cell can deliver an unprecedented level of cost and conversion efficiency.鈥�
The firm鈥檚 idea has some admirers and potential customers.
鈥淚 find the concept intriguing,鈥� says Bill Mazotti, solar technology business unit director for National Semiconductor, adding that the 鈥渢remendous pressures on costs鈥� of solar energy make any potential increase in efficiency welcome.
Various industry estimates show that about a third of the sunlight is lost to reflection. Nelson claims Solar3D鈥檚 technology could collect nearly 100 percent of that sunlight and convert it to power.
But even with that potential level of efficiency, sector analysts point out that solar power innovation is happening on a lot of fronts, meaning any startup will face headwinds.
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Established solar technology firms like , Kyocera, and are also working to make solar PV systems more efficient 鈥� by tackling the panels themselves or by improving the non-energy producing 鈥渂alance of system鈥� components 鈥� and that makes life tough for single-idea firms like Solar3D, says Matt Feinstein, solar analyst at research firm Lux Research.
鈥淔irst-mover advantage has already happened,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got the burden of proving themselves against the incumbents.鈥�
Feinstein points out that while technologies like Nelson鈥檚 can be game changers, 鈥渄isruptive technologies can be good but they go both ways.鈥�
For example, while solar PV technology is still dominant in the industry currently, new 鈥渢hin film鈥� power generation technologies from firms like could be the true disruptive force, making any PV innovations, like Nelson鈥檚, moot.
Good Year For Solar
The good news for startups is that the U.S. solar industry is coming off a great year.
According to a March 2011 report by trade group Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm GTM Research, the U.S. solar industry has continued to thrive despite overall economic conditions, with the industry鈥檚 market value jumping from $3.6 billion in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010.
While the report credits this 67 percent increase in part to federal and state funding initiatives and to the completion of several large utility-scale projects, it also cited the solar sector鈥檚 push to reduce technology costs as a big factor.
In some applications, installed PV system costs declined 8 to 11 percent.
鈥淭he U.S. PV market saw a breakthrough in 2010,鈥� says Shayle Kann, managing director of solar for GTM Research. 鈥淚t鈥檚 emerging as a global demand center for both suppliers and project developers.鈥�
National Semiconductor鈥檚 Mazotti points out this increase in production scale will inevitably push all solar component pricing lower.
鈥淔or every doubling of volume, costs come down about 22 percent,鈥� he says, but he adds that even that figure may not be enough for some in the industry.
鈥淎s much as [cost-cutting] hasn鈥檛 increased as much as some people expected, overall quality of the system has increased,鈥� he says, ensuring better system reliability and life spans.
In addition to concepts like those of Solar3D, he agrees with Lux鈥檚 Feinstein that there are many ways to squeeze further efficiency out of solar PV technology.
He says his current focus has been on electronic systems that make each solar panel in a multi-panel array more reliable.
But he adds any improvement is still critical to keeping the industry鈥檚 momentum going and making solar-derived electricity cheaper.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go far to see how the technology has expanded, and that will keep driving solar toward grid parity,鈥� he says.
Solar power costs are estimated at 0.15/kwh, and as low as 0.10/kwh in the sunniest places, bringing it in line with the average cost of residential electricity of just under .10/kwh in the US.
While industrial and commercial electricity consumers pay less for their power, renewable energy unit predicts grid parity for solar power for all electricity consumers in the sunnier parts of the US by 2015.
Solar3D鈥檚 Nelson says it鈥檚 that grid parity goal that keeps him going, despite the challenges that Lux鈥檚 Feinstein points out.
鈥淭he old-timers have an air of desperation,鈥� he says, referring to both the incumbents in the solar industry and elsewhere in the energy arena. 鈥淭he only way we鈥檙e going to be competitive is if we innovate. The innovators are the ones who are going to win the future.鈥�
鈥淲e want to change the world, and one of the ways to do that is to make solar economically viable,鈥� he adds.
