Posted on 10/02/2014 10:44:11 PM PDT by Utilizer
A new MIT study offers a way out of one of solar power's most vexing problems: the matter of efficiency, and the bare fact that much of the available sunlight in solar power schemes is wasted. The researchers appear to have found the key to perfect solar energy conversion efficiency—or at least something approaching it. It's a new material that can accept light from an very large number of angles and can withstand the very high temperatures needed for a maximally efficient scheme.
Conventional solar cells, the silicon-based sheets used in most consumer-level applications, are far from perfect. Light from the sun arrives here on Earth's surface in a wide variety of forms. These forms—wavelengths, properly—include the visible light that makes up our everyday reality, but also significant chunks of invisible (to us) ultraviolet and infrared light. The current standard for solar cells targets mostly just a set range of visible light.
That makes sense because visible light is the most intense form of light that reaches the Earth's surface. Many other forms, such as microwaves and x-rays, are mostly blocked by the planet's atmosphere, but the full spectrum reaching Earth still extends outward from what's known as the solar cell "band gap." This is the range of frequencies within which a material is able to convert solar energy into electrical energy.
(Excerpt) Read more at motherboard.vice.com ...
Now if they could expand this concept to include the IR frequencies, and possibly another method to convert stray RF energies by a similar method, we might have something useful come out of this someday.
Generating solar power efficiently is probably the least of it’s problems. There’s no way to store the energy so it can be used when one wants to. You have to use it as it is generated or it is completely wasted.
You also have no way of seamlessly transitioning from switching between being on the grid and off the grid.
The power plants are not set up to be able to dis down their ability to generate power during the low demands time. They are on fully all the time, whether that power is actually needed or not.
Oh. OK. I'll start throwing out every battery I find since it is impossible to store energy.
Store the power in hydrogen.. and oxygen.. the best battery never invented.
One way to store solar energy is to use concentrated light to melt sodium.
The sodium pile then takes weeks to cool down if left alone, or about 12 hours to cool down if you use it to flash water into steam properly.
Coincidentally, you might have a light source again after 12 hours...
that sounds interesting
Fine. You can use lead car batteries to store the energy, but all the set-UPS I have seen look like fire hazards in the making or risks to young children.
Hmm. OK. Well, having a background in Electronics I think I can address a couple of the issues you brought up so let’s look at them, right?
First of all, as long as you have a voltage differential of at least 0.7 Volts, you can build a step-up regulator to bring the voltage up to a more usable level. Both step-up transformers and step-up switching regulators have been around for a long time, and I am given to understand that companies like Linear Technologies, ST Microelectronics, and National Semiconductor (just to name a few) have small devices that are about the size of a standard TO-220 package, with some additional legs for any necessary additional components.
Secondly, there are several electronic switching methods currently out there that can perform switching functions quite well, so the requirement of being connected to the mains at all times is not really a “requirement” at all. I even have switches in RF transceivers that can switch between receiving a signal to transmitting on that acts in fractions of a microsecond, so not much worry there either.
Also, please take note that with very few exceptions, Solar / Photovoltaic devices rely upon the existence of solar energy to operate, and store the energy generated in some manner of battery device(s) for use during the part of the 24-hour Day/Night cycle when solar power is not available.
Or they simply cease operating at night, which might not be a problem for utility companies but commercial enterprises and personal installations do not, as a rule, find that to be an acceptable position to maintain.
Just a few thoughts to peruse.
I think they will eventually iron out all difficulties, it just takes time.
The dirty little secret we are never told about solar and wind is the baseload must still provide as much energy using those evyil hydrocarbons. To store solar on an industrial scale there is only hydroelectric reservoirs and we all know how unlikely any new dams will be coming on line.
No matter how effecient these solar panels become there is only so much sunlight striking the earth.
The first place that solar power will be economical will air conditioning. Not coincidentally, you need air conditioning where, and when the sun is shining. If large scale solar is not economical for this application, it will not be economical for any application.
From what I have read, there I enough sunlight for all.
Jeez, dude, have you studied this at all? I have 16 L-16 420 AH batteries in my setup that will run me for a couple of days. Fire hazard? Where do you get this crap?
Thus, even apart from battery banks, CSP can store the energy through night time.
As for seamless transmission to the grid, visited another plant near Cape Town (that uses photovoltaic) that has this amazing computer that makes grid transmission seamless.
Most important for me, made financial returns of 27 percent net.
Yeah, just because we have been building and using UPS/battery systems for many decades, they must be just waiting to burst into flames.
One of the most energy inefficient methods of storing energy available.
I have very little knowledge about solar energy...I do however know that for decades it and wind power has been heralded by the left as being just around the corner and to my knowledge the only people profiting are the people using government subsidies to exploit it. If I’m wrong please explain why after decades it still cannot stand on it’s on except for small applications like battery chargers. When the use is ramped up the old problems remain, mainly the lack of sunlight during night time cloudy days etc.!!!
Yep, had one almost go up in flames last week.
The internal batteries (2) were bad. This caused overheating and swelling and eventually a melted wire connector. Never blew a fuse either. It started acting odd and beeping and felt hot so the wife unplugged it. Upon my later inspection only the batteries looked bad.
Oh well, I simply drilled a hole in the side of the case and added longer wires and now it has external 12V batteries (2 x 110 Ah lead acids) in series for the 24V and it works fine and it keeps the big batteries charged up fully. It will now run much, much longer than before.
Bottom line here is you will eventually need to replace the batteries in ANY UPS when they get old.
I just decided to mod mine since I had a couple of unused deep cycle batteries available and didn’t want to have to buy two new 7.5Ah when I already had two 110Ah on hand. Been doing this for years.
SS1
All stored energy equipment have risks.
I do work with industrial UPS systems. Had one where the batteries were about 12”x12”x36”. There were 180 of those batteries. I’ll admit I wasn’t comfortable in the battery room thinking of the amount of storage energy. I don’t remember the Amp-Hour rating, but it was a 100% redundant 30 kW (8 hour) with 50% addition spare battery.
...and the major problem with photovoltaics is, most of their output is during the peak hours of the day, and that the Sun doesn’t shine at all during the night, making the theoretical efficiency a moot point.
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