While alternative energy like solar panels could revolutionize the way we generate power, they haven’t always been as efficient as they are today. This solar power efficiency infographic shows just how far we’ve come in the earliest days of signs of power conversion. To this day labs are coming up with new solar tech & innovations that are using different materials & chemical solutions to convert more of the sun’s rays into viable electricity that can be put on the grid.
1953 Solar Panel Efficiency
In 1953 when most people weren’t concerned with generating alternative green energy solar panels were showing signs of getting to a point where someone could actually power some household lights. Appliances still weren’t faced with energy compliant saving regulations so most appliances wouldn’t have been able to work off of a 1953 solar panel. The efficiency rating of a solar panel in 1953 was cranking out about 4.5% of the available energy from the sun’s rays into electricity. The amount of electricity generated by a solar panel at that time was about 230 watts.
The catch is that in 1953 the size of the solar panel to generate 230 watts was enormous to today’s standards in size of a typical solar panel width and height. The height of a 4.5% energy conversion solar panel producing 230 watts in 1953 was 213 inches tall and 130 inches wide. That is nearly 3 adults at a height of 6 feet tall in height or exactly 17.75 feet tall. The width of this solar panel was about two shorter adults at 10.83 feet. So you could have 3 adults standing head to toe and two shorter 5′ 5″ adults lying down head to toe. That’s a BIG solar panel!
Cost efficiency for a solar panel that was this big in 1953 in generating electricity came out to about $1,785 a watt. Obviously it makes sense why people weren’t to concerned with installing solar panels at their home in this time frame as it was ridiculously more expensive than getting electricity from the power company off of the power grid.
2012 Solar Panel Efficiency
Let’s jump ahead in time about 59 years to current day technology of solar panels. When this solar efficiency infographic was made in 2012 the conversion rate of taking the sun’s energy and turning it into power was at about 15%. That is more than double the rate we were at in 1953. The sad part is there is still about 85% of the sun’s energy just going to waste.
While the efficiency increased quite a bit from 4.5% to 15% the size of a typical solar panel converting this energy into electricity dropped by more than half. Now the size of a solar panel producing 230 watts in 2012 is only about 64 inches tall and 39 inches wide. Now if you take an adult and put them next to a solar panel they will most likely be taller than the solar panel standing at 5 feet and 3 inches. If you try to take any adult and lay them down to the width of the solar panel they’re going to be longer than the solar panel that is sitting at only 3 feet and 3 inches now.
With all that size reduction and increase in efficiency of energy to electricity conversion in newer solar panels you save a lot of money too. The typical amount you can expect to shell out in cost for a solar panel by the watt of energy production is $1.30 a watt. That’s more than 1,700 times cheaper than a solar panel in the 1953 time frame. Solar looks to be getting quite a bit cheaper huh?
2015 and Beyond Solar Panel Efficiency
The future of solar panels is looking bright with lab produced technology enhancements getting solar panels to about 23.5% efficiency in energy to electricity conversion. The time period is put at around 2015 – to any time in the future we should be expecting to get a solar panel that can generate energy at a 23.5% efficiency rating. That’s going to save even more money in producing solar electricity for sure.
The size of solar panels is expected to continue getting even smaller too with sizes expected to hit 41 inches tall and 25 inches wide. Toddlers will be able to stand next to solar panels in the future and be quite a bit bigger than them it seems. With a height of 3 feet and 5 inches and a width of around 2 feet and 1 inch you could really fit quite a few of these on a roof nowadays. The future looks bright for solar technology as it progresses in better efficient innovations and reduces the size it takes to put them up. This solar power efficiency improvement infographic really makes it easy to see just how far solar technology has progressed in just 60 years.
