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Since the invention of the modern silicon solar cell, the effectiveness of solar cells has improved significantly. The first silicon solar cell was developed by Bell Labs and shown to the public for the first time on April 25, 1954. It had an efficiency of about 6%, meaning that it converted about 6% of the sun’s energy it collected to electricity.

While it may not seem like much, this was actually a major improvement over the previous generation of solar cell, the selenium solar cell. The efficiency rating for selenium solar cells was only about 0.5%.

Solar cell research since then has made a priority of both improving efficiency and decreasing manufacturing costs. It’s proven to be possible, using exotic materials, to produce cells with up to 40% efficiency. Unfortunately, using such materials significantly increases the production cost; these high-performance cells can cost over 100 times more than ordinary 8% efficient cells to produce. In order to encourage the adoption of solar power, reducing production cost is perhaps an even more important objective than improving efficiency.

The sun delivers around 1,000 watts of power per square meter under ideal conditions. This figure is the standard for defining the performance of a specific solar cell. Of course, there are a variety of factors that can impact the intensity of sunlight, such as weather, elevation, pollution, and dust. Certain events, like volcanic eruptions, can even reduce sunlight on a worldwide basis for periods of a year or longer. Low elevation also has a detrimental effect on solar cell efficiency. At higher elevation, the air is thinner, and there’s less dust and pollution between the sun and the solar cells.

At about 14-19% efficiency, multicrystalline solar cells are the most efficient cells currently available. However, this kind of cell is not expected to progress much beyond that point. Much of the current research being done involves amorphous silicon cells, which currently work at about 8% efficiency.

Assuming there aren’t any major gains in solar cell efficiency in the short term, what would it take to replace all fossil fuel-based energy generation in the United States with solar power? A little over 10,000 square miles of land would have to be dedicated to solar panels in order to supply all of the electricity currently produced in the US. Even now, there is enough unused desert in the US to meet this benchmark.

In order to have power even when the sun isn’t out, solar power systems need to involve some form of power storage as well. Many power companies are considering “smart grid” systems involving the use of battery banks to address this issue. Batteries may also represent an answer to the problem of spikes in demand presented by hot days.

Over the last 60 years, solar cell efficiency has increased substantially, from 0.5% to as high as 40%. They are also becoming more affordable, particularly in the last few years.

If you are looking into installing a solar power system, you need to consider the kind of roof panel that you are going to utilize. More information about roof solar panels is available at Roof Solar Panels.

If you are interested in building your own solar panel, check out these step-by-step guides Build Solar Panel and GreenDIY Energy Review.