Question by hi: how much % of light coming in to solar cells is changed to electricty?
the efficency of a solar cell
Best answer:
Answer by roderick_young
From Wikipedia:
Solar cell efficiencies vary from 6% for amorphous silicon-based solar cells to 40.7% with multiple-junction research lab cells and 42.8% with multiple dies assembled into a hybrid package.[26] Solar cell energy conversion efficiencies for commercially available multicrystalline Si solar cells are around 14-19%.[27] The highest efficiency cells have not always been the most economical — for example a 30% efficient multijunction cell based on exotic materials such as gallium arsenide or indium selenide and produced in low volume might well cost one hundred times as much as an 8% efficient amorphous silicon cell in mass production, while only delivering about four times the electrical power.
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And my comment: after the cells are put into practical panels, subtract another few % of efficiency. So 14% would be pretty typical for a crystalline panel you buy on the open market.
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