XCPV Cheap Photovoltaics at 5c per KWH?

Start-up SUNRGI claims that its new highly concentrated photovoltaic system will be able to generate power at 5 cents per KWH. If it is able to deliver on its promise, it would boost photovoltaic power generation back into the limelight. By concentrating sunlight in a much more intense fashion, SUNRGI claims to be able to generate more energy from the same amount of costly silicon.

A new patents pending solar energy system will soon make it possible to produce electricity at a wholesale cost of 5 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour). This price is competitive with the wholesale cost of producing electricity using fossil fuels and a fraction of the current cost of solar energy.

XCPV (Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics), a system that concentrates the equivalent of more than 1,600 times the sun's energy onto the world's most efficient solar cells, was announced today by SUNRGI, a solar energy system designer and developer, at the National Energy Marketers Association's 11th Annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, DC. The technology will enable power companies, businesses, and residents to produce electricity from solar energy at a lower cost than ever before. ___Source

More on the origin of SURGI:

Sunrgi, based in Hollywood with a research office in Silicon Valley, says it can produce devices that magnify sunlight and produce electricity at 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, or about the cost of coal-generated electricity.

At the National Energy Marketers Association conference in Washington, D.C., today, Sunrgi will make its presence known with an announcement that it plans to start selling its Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics, or XCPV, product in 2009.

The system generates heat and requires cooling, but will fit in a smaller amount of land or roof space than rival technologies, said Robert Block, Sunrgi's co-founder. Executives of the self-funded company include Thomas Forrester, Allen Amaro and KRS Murthy, all Silicon Valley veterans. __Source

The product appears geared for both commercial and residential customers, and should be applicable for a CHP (combined heat and power) role. As such, it might provide competition for residential and small commercial fuel cell CHP.

Besides the proprietary concentrating system, the actual breakthrough may be the proprietary cooling design to allow the silicon to function properly under such intense light.

Stay tuned for followup announcements.
H/T NextEnergyNews