Solar's new power (Part.02)

One way to boost a cell’s efficiency is to add layers tuned to different parts of the solar spectrum. This means reaching beyond silicon to other materials. So-called Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductors, made of elements from group Ⅲ of the periodic table (aluminium, gallium and indium) and group Ⅴ (phosphorus and arsenic) are one approach. Indeed, gallium arsenide is already used in applications like satellites. John Geisz and his colleagues at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Colorado, have produced a six-junction cell containing various Ⅲ-Ⅴ mixtures, each with different light-absorbing properties. This cell has an efficiency of 47.1% in laboratory conditions─a new record, which the researchers reported in Nature Energy in April. Whith further work, they reckon, an efficiency of more than 50% should be possible.

• tune
  • 调谐，调整；使适合
• spectrum
  • 光谱；波谱
• periodic table
  • 元素周期表
• gallium
  • 镓
• indium
  • 铟
• arsenic
  • 砷
• reckon
  • 估计；认为

Intriguingly, the efficiency of Dr Geisz’s cell rises as more light is concentrated on it. Laid out in standard solar farms it would manage a bit under 40%. The 47% figure comes when it is bathed in illumination equivalent to 143 suns. Roughly speaking, then, a six-junction cell with a suitable arrangement of mirrors concentrating the sun’s light onto it could turn out the same amount of electricity as a standard silicon cell that had 400 times the area. Those are the sorts of numbers that disruptive technologies are made of.

• intriguing
  • very interesting because of being unusual or not having an obvious answer 非常有趣的，引人入胜的，神秘的
• lay sth ↔ out
  • 铺开，摆开；布置，设计
• illumination
  • 照明；光源
• disruptive technology
  • 突破性技术，颠覆性技术
  • disruptive
    • 引起混乱的，扰乱性的，破坏性的

Another promising group of materials for making new types of solar cells are perovskites. The original substance of this name is a mineral, calcium titanium oxide, discovered in the Ural mountains in 1839 and called after Count Lev Perovski, a Russian mineralogist. As is often the way with minerals, though, the basic crystal lattice involved can be created from many sorts of atoms. “Perovskite” has thus now become a generic term for any of these variants.

• promising
  • showing signs of being good or successful 有希望的，有前途的
• perovskite
  • 钙钛矿，指一类陶瓷氧化物，其分子通式为ABO3
• mineralogist
  • 矿物学家
• crystal lattice
  • 晶格
  • lattice
    • 格状结构
• generic
  • 一般的，通用的