Solar Cells
Impact
If successful, SUPERcell would provide a path to a solar cell having a conversion efficiency in excess of the triple-junction limit of 64%. The millions of nano-scale vacuum tubes, which are located on a microchip, will not depend on thermionic emission, will not be subject to the limits imposed by intrinsic material band-gaps, will not suffer severe performance degradation at high temperatures, will not be greatly harmed by ionizing radiation, and will not use rare elements that would otherwise prevent scaling the SUPERcell technology to the planetary level. A solar cell with extremely high conversion efficiency would revolutionize the solar industry and stimulate widespread adoption of XE-CPV technology on a very large scale. This would positively impact the state of our energy security, lessen reliance on fossil fuel, help curb green house gas emissions, avert further global warming, and soften the blow of fossil fuel depletion.