We all know that in an ideal world, clean energy would power our daily lives.
But unfortunately, our world is far from ideal.
And the main reason green technologies like solar power haven’t caught on is that they’re too expensive.
Indeed, the most accurate measure of a fuel’s price tag is its “levelized cost” – the total cost (per-megawatthour) of building and operating a power plant over the course of its lifetime.
And by this measure, it costs about $60 per MWh to produce energy from coal and $40 per MWh for natural gas. That compares to $115 per MWh for solar.
However, that may be about to change.
That is, a new technology – Black Solar – could increase solar power output, and cut its cost in half.
The concept behind the technology is simple: It’s a protective coating that reduces that amount of light reflected by a solar panel.
This is key, because in the world of solar, any light reflected is energy wasted. The more light absorbed, the better. And Absolute Black, or Black Solar, absorbs nearly twice as much light as most modern solar panels.
As a result, it Black Solar boosts the electrical output of a traditional solar cell from 17% to more than 33%.
That’s a huge increase in efficiency, and one that could put solar power on par with coal, in terms of cost.
So it’s really no surprise that the company behind the technology is already fielding calls from the world’s biggest solar companies.
No doubt, a potential solar boom is in the works here.
Demand for polysilicon – the substance used to make photovoltaic cells – will jump 15% this year. That’s the biggest surge since 2011. And the price of the material has reached it’s highest level since 2012.
It’s all because countries the world over are looking for that all-evasive “clean cure” to solve their energy woes.
So while fossil fuels are still very much present, solar – and Black Solar, in particular – is the future.
