Evergreen Solar (Marlboro, MA) has developed a solar panel called the EC-51. The new 51W panel incorporates solar cells that are wider and have a higher conversion efficiency than those in the company's previous products.
Evergreen reports that the shift from a 2.2in-wide ribbon to a 3.2in-wide ribbon, both processed into 6in-long wafers, represents a productivity increase of more than 40 percent in the wafer-fabrication process. The company claims that the increase in solar cell conversion efficiency from 10 to 12 percent represents a 20-percent increase in power per square inch, as compared with the company's existing products.
