SunShot: Lowering the Price of Electricity from the Sun
Monday, March 14, 2011 - 09:03
in Physics & Chemistry
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--Silicon translates sunshine into electricity--and Earth receives enough sunshine in a daylight hour to supply all of humanity's energy needs for a year. But despite being as common as sand, photovoltaic panels made from silicon--or any of a host of other semiconducting materials --are not cheap, especially when compared with the cost of electricity produced by burning coal or natural gas. The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) aims to change that by bringing down the cost of solar electricity via a new program dubbed " SunShot ," an homage to President John Kennedy's "moon shot" pledge in 1961. [More]