QuantaSol+unveils+28.3%+efficient+single-junction+solar+cell+World+Record

http://www.quantasol.com/news/product/quantasol_unveils_283_efficient_single_junction_solar_cell_world_record/

British based company - uses research from Imperial College, Professor Keith Barnham  Quantum Well Solar Cells are the innovative solution to a technological hurdle all high-efficiency solar cell manufacturers need to overcome. Find a crystalline semiconductor material that:

None of the known semiconductor compounds or alloys can meet all these conditions at the same time. We use our own recipe (our IP) to combine several nanostructures of two or more different alloys in order to obtain synthetic crystals that:
 * 1) exhibits the optimum light absorption range (ideally from a wavelength of about 1.1µm to the ultraviolet)
 * 2) is a good absorber of solar radiation (Silicon, for instance, is a very weak absorber)
 * 3) has essentially the same lattice parameter (spacing) of commercially available substrates (like Gallium Arsenide or Germanium)
 * 4) can be deposited seamlessly on those substrates to form a unique artificial crystal of very good structural (essentially no crystal defects) and compositional (essentially no unwanted impurities) quality by using commercially viable crystal-growth technologies


 * 1) can cover the optimum light absorption range described in (a)
 * 2) are structurally very stable because any layer that is lattice-mismatched with respect to the substrate is properly balanced by an oppositely mismatched layer in such a way that no crystal defects can develop. This brings about quite a significant “side effect” as fascinating quantum-mechanical effects can emerge and survive at the operating conditions of a solar cells and can therefore be exploited to enhance the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.