Solar Power Cost

Salon magazine looks at the debate over the true cost of solar power. Not surprisingly, estimates are all over the place.

Meanwhile, Science Daily notes ways to improve solar efficiency.
Special Coating Greatly Improves Solar Cell Performance

ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2008) — The energy from sunlight falling on only 9 percent of California's Mojave Desert could power all of the United States' electricity needs if the energy could be efficiently harvested, according to some estimates. Unfortunately, current-generation solar cell technologies are too expensive and inefficient for wide-scale commercial applications.

A team of Northwestern University researchers has developed a new anode coating strategy that significantly enhances the efficiency of solar energy power conversion. A paper about the work, which focuses on "engineering" organic material-electrode interfaces in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells, is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.