On Jan 15, 2006, at 7:19 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
http://www.photonics.com/todaysheadlines/article.asp?id=6070
"With this approach, we are well on our way to power levels
exceeding 100 watts per meter," he said.
Pretty amazing, though I have to wonder what "well on our way" means.
One challenge for organic solar cells has been the efficient
capture and conversion of sunlight. Sunlight is comprised of
photons (particles of light) that are delivered across a spectrum
that includes invisible ultraviolet (UV) light, the visible
spectrum of colors -- violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange
and red -- and the invisible IR spectrum. The amount of incoming
photons across the UV, visible and IR spectrums is about 4, 5 and
45 percent, respectively.
Looks like a typo above. Doesn't add up to 100 percent. Anyway,
more important than the number of photons is the amount of *energy*
(per area) incoming in the various bands.
The visible spectrum is commonly (i.e. for most people) 400 to 700
nm. See:
<http://www.factspider.com/vi/visible-spectrum.html>
Percent solar constant at aircraft altitude:
Lambda (nm) Cum % % Range
0 - 400 8.725 8.725 UV
400 - 700 46.879 38.154 Visible
700 - 100000 99.999 53.120 IR
Derived from page 18-10 of the 74th Edition of The CRC Handbook.
Horace Heffner
