merkle.pa@xerox.com (09/20/89)
The Monday Wall Street Journal (September 18, 1989) had an article titled: "Boeing Discovers Solar Cell Yielding Higher Efficiency." In the text of the article, we find: "To be precise, the Boeing cell managed an efficiency rating of 37% [yes, that's thirty seven!]. That's the ratio of electricity generated to the solar energy received on the cell's surface." "The previous record, 31%, was set last year at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., and officials there didn't expect their mark to fall so quickly." "...the Boeing cell will eventually produce electricity for as little as 10 cents per kilowatt hour, making it competitive with conventionally derived power." And with nanotechnology, we should be able to drive the manufacturing cost for the cell much lower. Background facts: The energy of the sunlight falling on one square meter in space near the earth is 1,368 watts. The energy reaching the earth's surface at noontime on a clear day is about 1,000 watts per square meter. The sunniest regions of the globe receive, on average over a year, about 300 watts per square meter. The earth receives about 10**18 kilowatt hours of solar energy each year, while the worldwide annual energy consupmption is about 80 x 10**12 kilowatt hours. The world energy consumption corresponds to the sunlight received on about .008% of the surface of the earth. The sun radiates about 3.9 x 10**26 watts of power. This could provide us with energy for a while..... (Facts and figures taken from the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology).