Toshiba is working on advanced photovoltaic panels, with energy efficiency expected to reach up to 40% compared to 20-25% in current Si panels, while maintaining an affordable price. The company emphasizes that such panels can be used primarily in the automotive industry and wherever the surface of the panels is very limited. Estimates show that a medium-sized car should travel on average about 35 km per day on solar without the need for charging from the power grid. That's about 2 times more than Fisker Ocean The panels have a two-layer design, which is not new, but current solutions use semiconductor called gallium arsenide (GaAs), which is hundreds of thousands of times more expensive than Si-based panels. Toshiba replaced GaAs with Cu2O, which gave similar energy efficiency, but at a price similar to traditional Si panels.
Unfortunately, it will take several more years before such solutions appear on the market.
