While the high-efficiency material is expensive, SolFocus' system uses so little of the germanium — 1 square centimeter per panel — that the company is able to cut the installed price of solar in half, compared to the average price today, and still make a healthy margin.Gives us the size of the panel.
Describe the geometry of electrodes that the wafer uses.
You need a lot of current to overcome the low band-gap of germanium.
Update: For more info look at the comments below; PV-expert SW provides the needed clarification regarding the technology. As more info becomes available, I will try to summarize in full. In short, I may have to change this post's title from Germ Anium to Gallium Arsenide. GaAs has double the bandgap of Ge, so at least that question gets answered.