Superefficient Solar Cell Maker Wins Big Contract

Spectrolab, Inc. has been awarded a contract for $13.3 million to develop their technology. Their solar cells convert 40.7% of the sun's rays to energy - most products on the market today are only about 16% efficient. I assume that this inefficiency in current products are a major reason that it costs 18 to 23 cents per kilowatt hour to produce (Of course, the small scale of current production is also a major reason). As a comparison, the article points out that in many states it costs 5 cents per killowatt hour to produce natural gas.

Spectrolab, Inc. is a subsidiary of Boeing.