Startup company Suniva is currently developing solar cells that would have 20 percent efficiency and yet are cheap to manufacture. This particular high-efficiency silicon solar cell promises to be cheaper than others because Suniva would employ low-cost methods for the manufacturing process. The exact methods aren't detailed, but one of them is called screen printing that's similar to silk-screen printing on T-shirts. According to Suniva, because of its low-cost manufacturing techniques, solar energy could be priced competitively, producing electricity averaging at only 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The front of the Suniva solar cell is textured so the photons captured will stay longer until they're needed to free the electrons and generate electricity. To enhance the light trapping capability of the textured front, a reflective layer in the form of a mirror is placed at the back of the silicon. Due to these couple of factors, it's possible to use a silicon layer just 100 micrometers thick made of a less pure form of silicon compared to that used in conventional solar cells. Of course, low-grade silicon is much cheaper. As of now, there are still milestones to be met for the design to become reality. Suniva aims to achieve the desired 20 percent efficiency by the year 2011.