Luddly Neddite
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http://www.salon.com/2014/05/05/new_solar_breakthroughs_could_be_the_final_nail_in_coals_coffin/
A class of minerals known as perovskites could be the best solar panel material you havent heard of. Until now, theyve been an extremely promising breakthrough in efficient solar conversion, but not so great for people who want to avoid lead exposure.
Not any more, thanks to the efforts of two separate groups of researchers at Northwestern and Oxford whove figured out how to replace lead with tin.
In both cases, the new cells arent as efficient as their lead-containing predecessors so far, Science reports, theyre only able to convert about 6 percent of the energy from sunlight into energy, about a third of what other perovskites are able to do. But the advantage is clear: tin is a much cheaper, not to mention safer, alternative. And in both cases, the researchers emphasize that this is just the beginning. Other scientists will see what we have done and improve on our methods, said Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, who led the Northwestern team. There is no reason this new material cant reach an efficiency better than 15 percent, which is what the lead perovskite solar cell offers. Tin and lead are in the s