New solar collector from 12-year-old

[turbo]

According to this article, a 12 year old kid has designed a solar cell constructed from nanotubes that greatly exceeds the efficiency of photovoltaic panels.

http://www.goodcleantech.com/2008/09/a_12yearolds_solar_cell_may_re.php

 

[Redbelly98]

I had heard about this, but am puzzled about some statements in the article:

" ... solar panels that can harness 500 times the light of a traditional solar cell"

Traditional cells are 15-20% efficient, so in what sense are the new panels 500 times better?

" ...ultraviolet light comes in at shorter wavelengths and with higher energy than both visible and infrared light. Ultraviolet light can provide more energy to a collector than other, longer-wavelength members of the electromagnetic spectrum."

Not if there's a whole lot more visible and infrared energy available in the solar spectrum.

Perhaps this is a case of the popular press misreporting the scientific explanation of what the true benefits are ... or I am missing something.

 

[jhicks]

Perhaps this is a case of the popular press misreporting the scientific explanation of what the true benefits are ... or I am missing something.

Oh it definitely is poor journalism. My best guess is that this boy's solar cell theoretically captures 500 times more UV light than standard cells, which I suppose is plausible considering the bandgap of silicon corresponds to the energy of an infrared photon. Of course the amount of energy contained in the UV spectrum is very small considering the sun is nearly an ideal black body with an energy spectrum peak around 500nm wavelength.

 

[OmCheeto]

You should check out the rest of these kids.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/fellows/Article/Davidson_Fellows___2008_405.aspx

Sikandar Porter-Gill
Age: 17
In his project, “The Production of Methane in a Two-Chamber Bio-Catalyzed Microbial Fuel Cell Utilizing Methanosarcina barkeri,” Sikandar developed a novel process to clean wastewater and produce methane for use as an alternative form of energy.

Christine Shrock
Age: 17
In her project, “Investigating an Allosteric Binding Site for a New Class of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors,” Christine developed an approach to finding a more effective HIV treatment.

At 17, I was still trying to figure out how to pick my nose.

And the numbers on Yuan's solar panel were wrong. The press left out some important information:

http://presskit.ditd.org/2008_Davidson_Fellows_Press_Kit/2008_DF_William_Yuan.pdf
Davidson Fellows Submission (Science)
In his project, “A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light,” William invented a novel solar panel that enables light absorption from visible to ultraviolet light. He designed carbon nanotubes to overcome the barriers of electron movement, doubling the light-electricity conversion efficiency.William also developed a model for solar towers and a computer program to simulate and optimize the tower parameters. His optimized design provides 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than the cutting-edge, three dimensional solar cell.

He had two separate projects.

The 500 is a little hard to believe though. Perhaps it was a misprint.

A ha! A video: http://www.katu.com/news/local/28432984.html?video=YHI&t=a

The numbers in the interview are again different: "9 times more light", "10% more energy"

And another article:

http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122109656865633500
Yuan admitted he submitted his project for review as a learning experience.

“This was a test run — I wasn’t expected anything,” he said. “I thought it would help when I entered another program when I was older.”

His work on developing his three-dimensional solar cell is far from complete.

“My next step is to talk to manufacturers to see if they will build a working prototype,” Yuan said. “If the design works in a real test stage, I want to find a company to manufacture and market it.”

So it's just a design, and hasn't been built, so no one really knows the numbers.

But anyways, I can't think of a better way to spend $25k than on this kid.

 

[Pumblechook]

Pinch of salt I think.

One problem seems to be different companies using different methods to define or calculate efficiency. Americans seem to claim higher efficiencies compared with European or Japanese ones for similar type of cells. Some take 1.4 kW/sq metre as the 'standard Sun' .. Others 1 kW/sq metre and if you consider only parts and different parts of the of the spectrum comparison of figures can be meaningless.

Another difficulty seems to be that some higher efficiency panels are more directional. Although they might produce more output with the Sun square on to them the average output can be lower than other panels.