Sharp has developed photovoltaic cells with an efficiency of up to 36.9%

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　　On the 4th, Japanese company Sharp announced that it had successfully developed a solar cell with a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 36.9%, breaking the world record set by the company in 2009 of 35.8%. The new achievements can be applied to artificial satellites and similar devices, with practical use expected to begin after 2014. The record-breaker is Sharp’s “compound solar cell”. This battery features the use of no silicon, instead relying on elements such as indium and gallium as materials, and it has a three-layered light-absorbing structure. The researchers reduced the resistance at the joints between the various layers of the battery, successfully increasing the conversion efficiency. http://rescdn.qqmail.com/dyimg/20111109/7839975AC3BD.jpg Structure of a triple-junction compound solar cell. (Source: Sharp Corporation) Sharp Corporation has achieved the highest conversion efficiency for non-concentrated solar cells in the world, at 36.9%. They use a type of triple-junction tandem solar cell, which features a three-layer stacked structure. 　　Triple-junction compound solar cells utilize photon absorption layers, and the compounds used to prepare such layers contain two or more elements, such as indium and gallium. Due to their high conversion efficiency, these composite solar cells are mainly used in space satellites.