Stephen,
I’m not sure the E field is static. It could look more like electronic noise. The inventor – Kumar - also has other patent apps which indicate the way he is going. 20150108851 Photovoltaic systems with shaped high frequency electric pulses At least one photovoltaic (PV) cell comprising a semiconductor material having p-n junctions formed therein, and configured to generate a PV output voltage in response to light; and a pulse generator coupled to receive a PV output voltage and generate electric output pulses therefrom. 20150107644 Photovoltaic efficiency using high frequency electric pulses A system can include at least one solar cell comprising a semiconductor material having p-n junctions formed therein; and a pulse generator electrically coupled to the solar cell and configured to apply electric pulses to dynamically alter a band gap of the semiconductor material as photons are received From: Stephen A. Lawrence 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. 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!
