From: David Watkins Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 4:47 AM Subject: Re: 12-Year-Old May Hold Key to Solar Energy
interesting article the current state of the art solar panels in production are manufactured by Nanosolar Nanosolar's production facility shipped its first panels in December, 2007. Their one plant cost around $100 million and nearly doubled (some say tripled) solar panel production in the US. Their third-generation panels are cheaper, more durable and easier to install than earlier panels. All of their 2008 production was purchased before they shipped their first panels. Nanosolar focused on lowering production costs, rather than the efficiency of their solar cells as they saw capital investment as the major barrier to a massive conversion to solar energy. Their nanoparticle, roll-print process uses an alloy rather than the silicon used by most earlier cells, which dramatically lowered production costs and made thinner and more durable panels possible. Nanosolar is doing research on more efficient cells, including those that would capture infrared and ultraviolet light, but will keep their goal on cost effectiveness. http://www.nanosolar.com/index.html http://www.nanosolar.com/blog3/?p=10 ####### ----- From: Scott Bergeson Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 12:45 PM Subject: 500x Solar Cell Efficiency discovered by Beaverton boy lauded forsolar cell invention | KATU.com - Portland, Oregon | News 12-Year-Old May Hold Key to Solar Energy 09.19.08 by Alan Henry One significant problem with existing solar technology is that it's not terribly efficient at harvesting solar energy and turning it into electricity. Solar technology is improving all the time, but one 12-year-old boy may have the key to making solar panels that can harness 500 times the light of a traditional solar cell. William Yuan is a seventh grader in Oregon whose project, titled "A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light", may change the energy industry and make solar energy far easier to harness and distribute. At the heart of Yuan's project is a special solar cell that can harness both visible and ultraviolet light. Most solar cells in use today are either photovoltaic, meaning they harness only visible light, or thermal. While visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light are all heavily scattered or absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, 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 electro- magnetic spectrum. Yuan's solar cells are not just innovative for their collection of UV light, but also because they're engineered to stand freely in three dimensions (which allows them to collect more light) and make use of carbon nanotubes, which allow the cell to distribute the energy it collects without dissipating as much as traditional cells do. Yuan is looking for a manufacturer to invest in building his new solar cell, and likely won't have a problem finding a partner. Yuan's solar cells have earned him a $25,000 scholarship to fund his education and research, a fellowship at the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, and a host of other awards in science and engineering. Yuan isn't the only young inventor making a difference, more and more young innovators are changing the face of clean technology. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2330778,00.asp http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20080919/tc_zd/232218 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ShadowGovernment" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ShadowGovernment -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
