[smaddox]

This is quite fascinating, if true. Having studied solar photovoltaics fairly extensively in both undergrad and grad school, I'm a bit skeptical that he achieved such efficiency with such a simple design, but it's not completely impossible.

It's important to note, though, that most of the cost of present day polysilicon solar cells comes not from the semiconductor device and contacts, but from the module and supporting electronics. So trading cell efficiency for cost will actually degrade overall installation cost per watt (since you'll need more of the more expensive parts), AND increase the amount of land required.

[mechagodzilla]

I think the "interesting" part of this is that you could generate useful amounts of electricity with panels that could be made and repaired/maintained/recycled in a very DIY fashion. They would definitely be worse than commercial Si panels in every other way, but when a ~400W panel on my roof breaks, it's probably going to wind up in a landfill rather than me troubleshooting and fixing it. A 5%-efficient panel that was very DIY-friendly would be pretty neat.

[smaddox]

If not for EVA encapsulation, silicon solar cells can be "recycled" by a 30 minute forming gas anneal at 400C. I don't know if all panels have EVA encapsulation or not. If so, then I doubt these ZnSb would degrade any better without a similar encapsulation.

It's really hard to beat silicon.