12 yr old revolutionizes solar cells

katu.com ^ | Sep 15, 2008 | Susan Harding

[pollwatcher]

BEAVERTON, Ore. – A new invention could revolutionize solar energy – and it was made by a 12-year-old in Beaverton.

Despite his age, William Yuan has already studied nuclear fusion and nanotechnology, and he is on his way to solving the energy crisis.

It all started with Legos - after he learned nanotechnology to make robots take off. The seventh grader then got an idea inspired by the sun.

"Solar it seems underused, and there are only a few problems with it," Yuan said.

Encouraged by his Meadow Park Middle School science teacher, the 12-year-old developed a 3D solar cell.

"Regular solar cells are only 2D and only allow light interaction once," he said.

And his cell can absorb both visible and UV light.

"I started to realize I was actually onto something," Yuan said.

At first, he couldn't believe his calculations.

"This solar cell can't be generating this much electricity, it can't be absorbing this much extra light," he recalled thinking.

If he is right, solar panels with his 3D cells would provide 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than cutting-edge 3D solar cells.

"Which would make solar energy actually a viable energy source for the Pacific Northwest," Yuan said.

While college students have come up with unusual solar cars and the state of Oregon recently unveiled solar panels to power highway lights, Yuan is thinking global.

"It'll have a really positive impact on society and the environment," he said.

His next step is to get a manufacturer and market it.

Yuan is flying out to Washington D.C. on Monday to accept a $25,000 scholarship for his research. He earned the Davidson Fellow award, which is for those 18 and under.

[LowOiL]

Another “Government School” doofus so roundly condemned by some around here.

Condemned.... no child is condemned by anyone here...but if it makes you happy, Newbies posting gibberish usually are though.

[Dick Bachert]

Kindly notice that this young man is of ASIAN heritage.

My guess is that his intellectual curiosity and love of learning were instilled at HOME, long before the automatons teaching the federally mandated, dumbing down lesson plans so as not to leave behind the slowest, least interested kid in the class could destroy those traits.

That this one kid escaped the educational homogenizer is hardly exculpatory of the government schools.

IT MUST START IN THE HOME — and the smart parents KEEP their most precious possessions at home and teach them there.

[wita]

What about those of us learning to tie our shoes? What TV?

[js1138]

The problem is this. Sunlight has many different frequencies in it.

Looking at definitions of efficiency, I'm pretty sure efficiency is based on the whole spectrum. I could be wrong about this.

[hosepipe]

[ Another “Government School” doofus so roundly condemned by some around here. ]

O.K.... “Government School” doofus savant...

[GOP Poet]

This is what happens when a child is taught the facts, the basics, and allowed to have raw curiosity and in fact encouraged (some naturally have more than others). Often these days all this political, cultural poo is instilled in children at the cost of teaching them basic knowledge and allowing unlimited curiosity to think as comes to them not as dictated by others of less intelligence (can you said liberals!!!!!!!!).

Excellent news!!!! Heres to foundational knowledge, curiosity, and invention!!!!

[Blueflag]

especially since 9 times 20 percent is 180 percent. ;-)

[Blood of Tyrants]

Solar cells convert only a tiny portion of solar rays to electricity because they only operate on a very narrow band of light. The 20% figure probably represents 20% conversion within the narrow band that the solar cells operate in. Now if you can widen the bandwidth then you can easily get 9 times as much energy.

[mc6809e]

Cutting edge cells convert something like 20 percent of solar energy to electricity. Nine times this seems unlikely.

I'm going to guess here and say that maybe the cells are capturing light that has been scattered, especially by sky and clouds.

[aft_lizard]

n00bs should probably watch their tongues here, just saying.

[PapaBear3625]

Yuan Bio from the Davidson Scholarship site

[Darth Hillary]

It’s great the kid is interested in science, but this smells like cold fusion.

[GOP Poet]

The kid ought to be put up for the Nobel Prize.

Now hold on a second there . . . we don't want this kid to get to big for his britches. He must first be vetted for his politics before being given any such thing as important as a PULITZER PRIZE! Nudge, nudge, what if his parents voted for George Bush? Or he likes McCain! No we must vet him first!! (sarc)

[js1138]

I don’t have a source that addresses this question directly, but it makes no sense to calculate efficiency on a narrow band. The whole effort to improve efficiency is to widen the conversion band.

[Islander7]

arrogantsob? Is that you Barry?

[Maringa]

I hope the kid and his parents have adequate security if this turns out to be true. The Big Oil companies along with their goons will be trying to knock down their door and terminate them...

/sarcasm

[SpinnerWebb]

I think you meant to say "lower latitude" state.

Did the Germans let that stop them from bombing Pearl Harbor? Let him go, he's on a roll....

[DoughtyOne]

William Yuan, a Beaverton, Oregon 12-year boy, invented a new kind of solar cell that can absorb both visible and ultraviolet light.

I bet this kind of news makes you feel pretty weird about your own accomplishments so far. It sure made me. And, to scare you even further, I took a look at little Will's resume. Oh my, here goes.

Two years before finishing elementary school in 2007, he became a member of the First Lego League (FLL) and this determined him to delve into the research of nanotechnology and renewable energy. Since he realized the importance of the latter for the future, he focused his attention on the study and development of solar cells. Regular visits to Portland State University helped him with his project.

Besides that, he broadened his intellectual interests and began attending computer programming, biology, media design and mechanical engineering. Here are some of the institutions he "visits": FLL, Science Bowl, MESA (Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement), Signal to Noise, American Mathematics Competitions, Mathcounts, Chess, Geo-Bee, and the Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge. Furthermore, Yuan plays chess and piano and likes to ski, while he also has a black belt (for those under 15) in Taekwondo. From 2005 up to now, he won 17 awards for most of his interests.

Regarding his project, called "A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light," he has recently been granted a $25.000 scholarship for research purposes. He came up with some carbon nanotubes that help overcome the boundaries of electron movements, which doubles the efficiency of light-electricity conversion. He also designed a solar tower model, as well as a piece of software that simulates and optimizes its parameters. This optimized design allows for 500 times more light absorption than the commonly available commercial solar cells and about 9 times top-notch 3D ones.

He plans to get his invention out on the market, which will depend on its cost efficiency. Given his youth, William has an entire lifetime ahead to improve on that as well.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Little-Wonder-Boy-Discovers-New-Solar-Cell-Type-93760.shtml

[B.O. Plenty]

If this is true....all Freepers should become rich investing in the company who ultimately manufactures the cells.

You can never tell who the next Walmart, Microsoft or Google may be.......keep your eyes open and your powder dry.

[Ken H]

12 years old - wow. And to think when I was his age, the most important thing was getting home from school in time to watch Spiderman.

When I was 12 I invented a universal solvent. The problem was that there was no container to hold it!