If, like many people in Yorkshire, you are considering solar panel installation as a means of generating your own electricity, you may be very interested in the latest technological developments in his area.

Until now, the level of efficiency with which sunlight can be turned into electricity by photovoltaic (PV) cells has had a ceiling remaining stubbornly below 30 per cent.

For instance, silicon-only solar cells in commercial settings can only reach 24.5 per cent efficiency, while in the lab a figure of 27 per cent has been reached. The theoretical maximum is 29 per cent.

However, researchers in Switzerland and Germany have revealed how they found a way of raising efficiency above 30 per cent using perovskite-silicon ‘tandem’ cells, with a layer of perovskite laid on top of the silicone.

These cells have been around for several years, but they have been made increasingly efficient to the point where they could break the 30 per cent barrier. Perovskite is a semiconductor that captures blue light, while silicone catches red light, so between them, they maximise the light accessed.

A team at the Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy achieved 32.5 per cent, detailing this in work published in the journal Science, while the researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne reached 31.25 per cent.

Indeed, as The Guardian reports, at least two other groups have also hit the target. Chinese solar cell maker LONGi revealed last month they had reached 33.5 per cent. The other one, led by Professor Stefaan De Wolf, at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, did better still, reaching 33.7 per cent in research yet to be published.

Prof De Wolf told the paper: “This year is a revolutionary year. It’s very exciting that things are moving rapidly with multiple groups.”

This will have major effects on the attractiveness of solar technology as a source of green energy, he said. “Overcoming the 30 per cent threshold provides confidence that high performance, low-cost PVs can be brought to the market,” he remarked.

Professor De Wolf noted that this growth is vital, claiming that the world needs to reach a solar capacity of 75TW by 2050 to avoid the worst climate change projections. This compares to the present 1.2TW level of 2022.

Of course, part of the equation will be the contribution made by large solar farms around the world, including Britain. The Daventry Express has just reported on the latest of these is set to be granted planning permission, a 100,000-panel array to be located in the countryside at Flore, midway between Daventry and Northampton.

Councillors will shortly make a final decision on the Glassthorpe Solar Farm project by EDF Energy, with the installation set to produce enough power for 14,000 homes.

However, plans like this always have their opponents. In this case, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and some parish councils have objected. This might not stop the Glassthorpe array from going ahead, but other proposals around the country may fall foul of determined campaigns.

That means progress in building up solar power can be stymied in some cases, which is all the more reason for individual households to play their part.

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