Go MIT - new solar breakthroughs (article link)

[Ratkity]

I can't wait until these things trickle down to the the masses!


http://tinyurl.com/3ju4foe

Hugs,
Ratkity

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Thats some pretty cool stuff! Thanks for sharing!

[JoshInReno]

You made my day with that article.

In the process of designing the solar system on my trailer, I have become absolutely fascinated with the resource. I now spend hours every night reading everything I can get my hands on regarding the technology.

I think, with further advancements, that solar could do incredible things to the world of energy.

Wonder if there is someway to turn my interest into a job that doesn't involve a lab somewhere?

[Engineer Guy]

Go MIT, indeed. I saw Item #2 in that neato Link above ~2 weeks ago in MSM and privately rejoiced. I was in Semiconductor Industry pre-Early Retirement, and the current drop in PV Panel price/Watt comes from emulating making PV Substrates via Processes similar to ICs. Complex Processes in unforgiving environments [High Vacuum Chambers; nasty Etchant Gases; etc.]... As IC performance/$ has increased over Production generations, PV performance has increased in a like manner, and for similar reasons.

A Company in N. CO is shooting for the Industry Holy Grail of PVs that cost $1/Watt. Commercially-viable Substrate deposition on 'anything' - including Paper - would be spectacular.

I definitely will run my TT run off of PVs some future day; the Genny-free quiet while Boondocking is sublime.

A subtle Benchmark reached last Spring was that Germany produced the same gigaWatt output from Alt. Energy sources as the ill-fated Japanese Fukushima Plant. Solar and Wind are not 24/7, obviously, but this Benchmark level of Energy production was laudable, nonetheless.

[Ratkity]

LOL your nick is very apt, engineerguy!! Although I must say I really like the technical stuff too. One of solar's dirty little secrets is the loss of efficiency as the air temperature rises. New substrates are so exciting, especially if they bypass this limitation!

I'm keeping my eyeballs glued to these coming advancements.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[bdosborn]

As IC performance/$ has increased over Production generations, PV performance has increased in a like manner, and for similar reasons.

I keep thinking that PV panels should be following Moore's law and while they've come down in price quite a bit the last 5 years, they just aren't following that path for price and efficiency (yet, I'm still hoping).

I too find it exciting to watch the progress in PV efficiency, however the transition from the lab to manufacturing reality is rarely as exciting. Here's a link to a company that says they've solved that problem for their product.

Solar Cell Breaks Efficiency Record

I hope to replace my current PV panels with these in a couple of years.

Until then I'll limp along with 16% efficiency.

Bruce

Interesting fact :

Total world PV capacity in 2010 - 40,000 MW (or about 5 large steam power plants) My system is somewhere around 8 decimal places smaller

[droid_ca]

would it be possible to help improve efficiency to connect a joule thief to the circuit here is a link in case you don't know what a joule thief is

http://www.joulethief.com/

[bdosborn]

Yup, only its called MPPT when applied to a PV array...