Posted on 03/01/2005 7:56:56 AM PST by grundle
http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/02/03/stories/2005020300431600.htm
Breakthrough in solar photovoltaics
THE HOLY Grail of researchers in the field of solar photovoltaic (SPV) electricity is to generate it at a lower cost than that of grid electricity. The goal now seems to be within reach.
A Palo Alto (California ) start-up, named Nanosolar Inc., founded in 2002, claims that it has developed a commercial scale technology that can deliver solar electricity at 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Molecular self-assembly
The breakthrough has come through the application of nanotechnology to create components via molecular self-assembly, including quantum dots (10nm large nanoparticles) as well as nanotemplates with structural order extending through all three dimensions.
In addition, Nanosolar has demonstrated that the three dimensionally engineered nanotemplates can be conformally coated or solidly filled with semiconductor paint to create ultra-thin solar cells with layers that are yet another factor 100x thinner than conventional thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells.
This allows a 10x larger surface area of these structures to be used to achieve a 10x increase in efficiency for such thin layers, thus making it possible to use even less material for similarly efficient cells. Conventional inorganic semiconductors tend to require intricate processing to ensure large grains of crystallinity (in the extreme case: mono-crystallinity) so that charges can travel hundreds of nanometres without getting trapped and lost (at internal crystal boundaries).
The 3D nanocomposite architecture of the ultra-thin-absorber cells makes possible absorption of a substantial fraction of the incoming sunlight despite the ultra-thin layers since the charges need to be transported only several nanometres without much opportunity for a loss.
This means the requirements on the semiconductor material can be relaxed and low cost materials such as inorganic semiconductors of the IIb/VIa and Ib/IIIa/VIa families as well as solution-coatable organic semiconductors can be used.
Lower cost
According to the CEO, Martin Roscheisen, the conversion efficiency (percentage of incident light energy converted to electrical energy) of the Nanosolar SPV cell is above 12 per cent for its first product prototypes. He claims that the Nanosolar SPV cell costs only $ 0.36 per peak watt.
The semiconductor paint can be applied to a flexible substrate , such as a polymer sheet , through a simple web printing process, to create an array of ultra-thin solar cells.
Nanosolar has developed proprietary substrate technology that keeps the substrate cost within a smaller fraction of the overall product cost than any other state-of-the-art thin-film solar cell technology. The company has also developed a powerful new way of interconnecting individual solar cells into larger modules and large-area sheets and allows high-throughput module assembly at high yield.
The flagship product, Nanosolar SolarPly, is a 14 feet x 10 feet solar electricity module delivering 120 watts per square inch at 110V. The company is now offering solar panels at below $1 per peak watt.
The Nanosolar team, headed by CEO Martin Roscheisen (listed by Fortune in 2003 among the top ten U.S. entrepreneurs below 40 years of age), has some top-notch Indian technologists assisting it.
Among them are Dr. Siva Sivaram (ex-Intel) and Dr. Arati Prabhakar , former Director of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
N.N. Sachitanand
I wonder if they call the US with technical questions... and complain about our accent?
So could a smaller version fit on the roof of a car and connect to a rechargeable battery (for when the sun goes in)? If so would this provide a reasonable vehicle ?
sweet- And I thought I was going to have to rely on aluminum tinfoil warming water on a sunny day.
This is a bogus number. The real number is dollars per watt. The cost has been $5 per watt, at least. To light a 100 watt lightbulb costs $500, just for starters. Forget the watthours BS.
Mister Chairman, I nominate California . . .
110 million pound structures are everywhere.
No, it's not something we could start doing today. But if we wanted to, we could start the project, have the first powersat online in about 15 years, and have financial payoff inside of 30 years. . .and also have the capability to produce an infinite number of additional powersats. Not to mention a full industrial capability in high orbit and on the Moon. And the technology required is old and proven. Sounds like a win-win to me. . .
The 120 watt per sq inch is probably off by three orders of magnitude. Just a guess but it might be a typo. 120 mWatt in*2 sounds more realistic to me. That would yield an output for the 140 ft*2 module of 2.4 kWatt. About enough to power about 20 120 watt light bulbs.
the must mean milliwatts....bet the MSM scum reporter got it wrong!
I suggest that you do a little research on the subject. Significant research and development has been done on the ground side of microwave power transmission over the last couple of decades. The Japanese have a long-term exposure research facility testing the affects on plants and animals under a typical active rectenna. The radiation flux levels are realatively low - so you won't get pre-cooked beef nor limp lettuce.
But hey, if you want to live in fear and ignorance of microwave power transmission, who am I to stop you? :)
It's really amazing how ignorant reporters and editors are, that they could let this slip past. It's like saying the sun sets in the East.
I live in no fear of microwave transmission. I prefer to spend my near term dreams on feasible technology. The ability to continuously beam thousands of watts of power, hundreds of miles has not been demonstrated, much less the ability to beam hundreds of megawatts of power, thousands of miles. We are scores of orders of magnitude off in technology for this technique to be feasible. My problem is not fear, nor ignorance, it is reality.
Mercury?
If this isn't a misprint, it is total BS. Quick calculations say it would be 17,280 W per sq. ft.
But the solar constant at the very upper level of the earth's atmosphere is only 1376 W per square meter, or 127.4 W per sq. ft.!
This is saying they can collect more than a 1000 times more energy than the sun even delivers before it is reduced by 80 miles of atmosphere.
put them all over on top of blue state houses. that way they can suffer from P.E.S.T and S.A.D. at the same time.
How many of these hypes have we seen in the last 30 years? This is another failure in progress.
LMAO
There is a Canadian company coming out with solar paint in 2006.
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