On Mon, Aug 09, 2010 at 05:14:22PM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > On 8/9/2010 5:04 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > > I wonder what the EROEI on this is. > > > > Udhay > > > > http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/61141/title/The_incredible_shrinking_solar_cell
I have problems with that article. E.g. > Some of these emerging electricity-generating cells could be embedded in > windows without obscuring the view. Why would one want to throw away most of the VIS spectrum, I wonder? Maybe only in deserts, where people foolishly insist to build glass skyscrapers, and must resort to heavily tinted windows. > Or this, for that matter: > > http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/august/new-solar-method-080210.html UHV? Metallic cesium? Over 200 C temperature? I think not. > For instance, his group has begun studding minute refractive lenses into > glass or plastic plates. Each lens concentrates sunlight onto a solar cell, > nearly as small as a pinpoint, that sits directly below. This has problem with cost, durability and tracking issues. A good solar cell (e.g. CIGS) should handle diffuse sunlight just fine, and be durable, and not requiring tracking but be part of the building structure. A good way to slash costs is to build inverterless panels, which synthesize AC (where DC is no good for some reason) in realtime from individual cell contributions. This will not be solved by a single breakthrough, but a series of small steps. > Stanford Report, August 2, 2010 > New solar energy conversion process discovered by Stanford engineers > could revamp solar power production > > A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar > radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the > efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers > who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called "photon > enhanced thermionic emission," or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar > energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source. > > <snip> > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) > -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org";>leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
