Clearly, unlike what we're shown, they really don't need a battery nor the sun ( exclusively ) as a light source. Any light source will do. It will produce voltages in any number of configurations equalling any internal combustion engine. Think of it, one cell lasts twenty years. Your initial outlay is a one time thing.
2007-06-15 11:07:27 · 5 answers · asked by vanamont7 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Cost is the biggest factor (at least right now) and politics always seem to play a major role determining what the pulic will accept.
have you seen the site
green-trust.org?
Lots of alternative energy sources and projects for saving money and "living off the grid"
good luck, hope this helped answer your question and spark some ideas
2007-06-15 11:20:14 · answer #1 · answered by ronald c 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't really understand what is your question. Photovoltaic cells are to be used for what?
Photovoltaic cells are used in general - there are solar calculators (with no battery at all), and before that, they were used as primary source for satellites (including the International Space Station). Now they can be purchased in panels and installed on the roofs. There is active development on high efficiency photovoltaic cells (they require concentration of light by means of a concave mirror, for example). Traditional photovoltaic cells barely have a 10% efficiency; high efficiency ones can reach 30-40%.
2007-06-15 18:20:53 · answer #2 · answered by Daniel B 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Where do you get the energy to make the light without the sun and by the way, the one time outlay is about $50,000 for an average home. Not quite pocket change. Also think of all the sun you get in Vermont in January
2007-06-15 18:34:02 · answer #3 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because it takes more energy to make that cell then it puts out in 25 years.
solar cell manufacture have good pr people and they end up brain washing people into thinking they're good for the environment.Only reason it has a 10 years or so payback is because tax payers pay for most of it and cell manufacture pay less for there energy. All so no one every counts the interest you could have made off that money if you just invested it.
All you really do is turn cheap energy (coal/oil) into a battery that you pay 25 years up front for.
2007-06-15 18:35:43 · answer #4 · answered by Yoho 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They are used, where the grid doesn't go... but they currently take more energy to make than they can yield in their useful lifetime.
2007-06-15 21:13:44 · answer #5 · answered by DT3238 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋