Sounds sort of reasonable.
But something comes to mind -- the E field they apply, as described,
doesn't do any work, as far as I can tell. It /just/ biases the cell.
IOW it's a static E field.
In particular, since there's no path for the charge to leave the
"plates" (front and back coatings) there's certainly no way for the
charge to do any work.
But that means it also consumes no energy. Consequently, all you'd need
are conductive coatings on the front and back of the cell, and you could
charge them from anything at all, including a voltage multiplier driven
by the cell's own output. In essence, you stick the cell into the
middle of a charged capacitor.
It's not hard to believe this would affect the solar cell, and might
very well improve its efficiency. OTOH if that's correct, then the
"pyrolytic film" seems like unnecessary decoration on the basic idea.
On 09/22/2016 04:55 PM, Jones Beene wrote:
Here is the patent application – or one of them
https://www.google.com/patents/US20120216847
Abstract
A method to increase the efficiency of a solar cell comprises applying
one of a transparent pyroelectric film and a plurality of films in a
stack on a front surface of the solar cell and applying one of an
opaque pyroelectric film and plurality of films in a stack on another
surface of the solar cell. An electromotive force is generated to bias
the solar cell such that an open circuit voltage is created.
**
Terry,
They seem to contradict themselves: elsewhere they claim “the Efficoat
technology” provides 15-20% improvement in power production from
ordinary solar panels over the course of a typical day.” This would
lead one to believe that the panels are coated.
If the coating is not on the panels but contained in a remote box,
then why not sell the box to Tesla and let the cars get 20% more out
of the battery pack ? Who needs the solar panels?
Hmmm … do we know that Tesla doesn’t do this already ?
*From:*Terry Blanton
Is there a better description of their tech? Say, a patent app? 'Cuz
I don't get the impression that they do anything to the solar cell
itself. From the FAQ:
*Is the Pyroelectric coating on the panel directly?*
/No, the Pyroelectric glass and coating reside inside the sealed
Ultrasolar QuantunBoost™ device. There are no user serviceable parts
in the device that need to be accessed by the user or field technician./
*How does Pyroelectric help increase the power of a solar cell?*
/We create electric field from a coating of pyroelectric material on
glass. The field is applied on the solar cell using the electrodes of
the solar cell. The applied electric field removes electrons and holes
from traps and accelerates them towards the electrodes. This increases
the current resulting in increase of DC power from the panel./
So, er, has anyone tried substituting a battery for the solar cells?
After all, as Monty Python says, "Every electron is special." So the
origin should not matter. (It was 'electron', right?)
Okay, I'll stop. Bollocks!
