Comment This is not a "solar panel"! (Score 1) 439
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I take issue with the Update on the post. The researchers have not made a solar panel or a solar cell. They have made a sheet of "photoactive" material and have measured how it absorbs light. The MIT Tech Review article says "Computational models suggest that the material could be used to make solar cells that would convert 15 to 20 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity". Such models are highly dubious when actual solar cells have not been demonstrated, and major identifiable hurdles need to be crossed before that happens. Although I agree with other posters that it is significant that very little Si is required in this material, it is hard to say much about manufacturing cost either before a working device or device architecture exists.