With the world increasingly turning to renewable energies to meet power demands, DMEGC, a Chinese manufacturer of solar panels, believes many of the problems limiting the spread of solar energy technology will be cracked in upcoming years.
The elevated costs associated with the technology, the large space required for installations and difficulty storing excess energy are some of the main hurdles keeping people around the world from embracing the technology.
However, Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics Co ltd, located in Zhejiang province, says people need not fret about this difficulties, as the rapid pace of innovation in the industry means a solution is probably just around the corner.
“Better designs, better chemistry and the use of sunlight-absorbing nanoparticles is driving efficiency, and will make large-scale solar farms the norm, rather than a fad, in the near future,” says Andy Guo, general manager of DMEGC’s solar energy division.
“Efficiency is, at the moment, the biggest hurdle to better solar power. Now more than 80 percent of all solar panels have an energy efficiency of less than 15 percent. Most of these solar panels are stationary, which means they miss out on direct sunlight. Most of the sunlight that hits the panels is wasted.”
He says scientists are now developing better semiconductors, which could double the efficiency of solar cells in the next few years.
“The cost of solar technology is dropping across the world as technology evolves and scientists innovate,” he says, adding that batteries to store excess energy are no exception to innovation.
“The batteries on the market are, essentially, large versions of the lithium-ion batteries. They can only store energy for a certain amount of time – weeks, at most. As soon as the charging source is removed, they start to lose the charge. Moreover, lithium-ion batteries do pose a safety risk.
“Fortunately, technology is fast evolving to overcome these issues and new technology which has enhanced these batteries will be used more and more to ensure a continuous power supply,” he says.
