A group at the University of New South Wales has announced that they have achieved a record 25% efficiency with a silicon solar cell, improving on their previous 24.7% performance... ...except that it is the SAME CELL as before. It's just that the standards body changed the reference spectrum upon which the PV cell is tested, and their cell happens to take better advantage of the new spectrum. “Improvements in understanding atmospheric effects upon the colour content of sunlight led to a revision of the standard spectrum in April. The new spectrum has a higher energy content both down the blue end of the spectrum and at the opposite red end with, dare I say it, relatively less green.” This is (exactly) like having the EPA change their mileage test and then having an automaker trumpet the "improved" performance of their products. Mish, who is usually rather astute, fell for this nonsense . NSW does good work, but please... Doh! Doh!
A little bit of energy.