In South Africa, a researcher has made a huge solar break through and the prototype has been made. A full size solar manufacturing plant is planned for South Africa next year, according to news on the Eskom website."The technology has proved itself in the pilot-plant phase, without a doubt," says University of Johannesburg department of physics professor Vivian Alberts who is quoted by the website.
"We have already completed the designs of all critical industrial equipment as well as the detailed cost models of industrial production lines up to 25 MW a year." Alberts' invention does not involve silicon, which he says is a poor conductor, but combines several semiconductor materials which are as effective, if not more so, than silicon, he believes.
