Super Efficient Solar Panels on the Way?

[Okie + 83]

https://news.rice.edu/2019/07/12/rice-device-channels-heat-into-light/?T=AU

Carbon nanotube films created at Rice University enable method to recycle waste heat

The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels – and anything else that loses energy through heat – far more efficient.

Rice University scientists are designing arrays of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat) and greatly raise the efficiency of solar energy systems.

...

Naik said adding the emitters to standard solar cells could boost their efficiency from the current peak of about 22%. “By squeezing all the wasted thermal energy into a small spectral region, we can turn it into electricity very efficiently,” he said. “The theoretical prediction is that we can get 80% efficiency.”

*******

Let that sink in: 80% efficient solar panels.  It is still in the development stage, but it looks like solar energy just might be on the cusp of a monumental breakthrough.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 hour ago, Okie said:

Let that sink in: 80% efficient solar panels.  It is still in the development stage, but it looks like solar energy just might be on the cusp of a monumental breakthrough.

That is beyond monumental; it is all the way to galactically explosive.   At 80%, even those installations at 45 degrees North Latitude go from effete displays of showiness all the way to serious producers.  

Never underestimate the ability of technology to bust down old doors.  Cheers.

[markslawson + 1,057]

Okay, 80 per cent - that's good, and its certainly interesting research. There are still a few points to be addressed  however. My understanding is that degredation of panels is an issue with PVs. Panels with much higher efficiency are already possible but they don't last very long at that efficiency rating. So these scientists may be looking at the wrong end of the problem. There is also the issue of cost. Granted mass manufacturing will bring the costs down but it still seems like an expensive and elaborate way to get free electricity.

The final, and intractable problem is that its still intermittent power. Assuming this technology gets to the market, it needs the equivalent on the storage side before we can start retiring fossil fuel generators. Anyway, its interesting technology. Let us await developments.

[BenFranklin'sSpectacles + 762]

On 7/25/2019 at 10:37 PM, Okie said:

https://news.rice.edu/2019/07/12/rice-device-channels-heat-into-light/?T=AU

Carbon nanotube films created at Rice University enable method to recycle waste heat

The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels – and anything else that loses energy through heat – far more efficient.

Rice University scientists are designing arrays of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat) and greatly raise the efficiency of solar energy systems.

...

Naik said adding the emitters to standard solar cells could boost their efficiency from the current peak of about 22%. “By squeezing all the wasted thermal energy into a small spectral region, we can turn it into electricity very efficiently,” he said. “The theoretical prediction is that we can get 80% efficiency.”

*******

Let that sink in: 80% efficient solar panels.  It is still in the development stage, but it looks like solar energy just might be on the cusp of a monumental breakthrough.

 

On 7/26/2019 at 12:43 AM, Jan van Eck said:

That is beyond monumental; it is all the way to galactically explosive.   At 80%, even those installations at 45 degrees North Latitude go from effete displays of showiness all the way to serious producers.   

Never underestimate the ability of technology to bust down old doors.  Cheers. 

 

On 7/26/2019 at 7:22 PM, markslawson said:

Okay, 80 per cent - that's good, and its certainly interesting research. There are still a few points to be addressed  however. My understanding is that degredation of panels is an issue with PVs. Panels with much higher efficiency are already possible but they don't last very long at that efficiency rating. So these scientists may be looking at the wrong end of the problem. There is also the issue of cost. Granted mass manufacturing will bring the costs down but it still seems like an expensive and elaborate way to get free electricity.

The final, and intractable problem is that its still intermittent power. Assuming this technology gets to the market, it needs the equivalent on the storage side before we can start retiring fossil fuel generators. Anyway, its interesting technology. Let us await developments.

Building on Mark's point that issues remain to be addressed: the vast majority of what academia produces is useless crap.  They create these press releases to give the public impression that they're accomplishing something, which makes it difficult for politicians to defund them.  Academia's tendency to massage data & outright lie has become worse in recent years.  It's reached a point where roughly 75% of their "peer reviewed" publications don't even pass academic standards - much less industry standards. 

New technology is pure speculation until private industry sinks significant funding into it - and even then, there's maybe a 10% chance it succeeds.   Let's not get caught up in the hyperbole.  Personally, I hesitate to discuss the market effects of any new technology until that industry's professionals - engineers, entrepreneurs, managers, etc - are actively working with it.