Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!houxz!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!sri-unix!Hank.Walker@CMU-CS-UNH From: Hank.Walker%CMU-CS-UNH@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.space Subject: very cheap solar cells Message-ID: <12277@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-Aug-84 14:17:00 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12277 Posted: Thu Aug 9 14:17:00 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 12-Aug-84 00:34:01 EDT Lines: 8 The talk about the cells costing a tenth what silicon solar cells do must be bunk. Current module costs are maybe $5/W, so he is talking $0.50/W, or $5/wafer. The cost of silicon cells is primarily the crystalline silicon. The cost of the antenna cells is the complex lithographic step. Rectifiers will probably have to be integrated onto the same wafer, so an alignment problem is created, and it looks a lot like you're making an integrated circuit. Note that according to the article, a prototype won't be available until next year, so the process must be rather difficult.