New Solar Product Captures Up to 95 Percent of Light Energy

[Mr. Sparkle]

cienceDaily (May 17, 2011) — Efficiency is a problem with today's solar panels; they only collect about 20 percent of available light. Now, a University of Missouri engineer has developed a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light, and he plans to make prototypes available to consumers within the next five years.

Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods of solar collection is inefficient and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum. The device his team has developed -- essentially a thin, moldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna -- can harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.

Working with his former team at the Idaho National Laboratory and Garrett Moddel, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Pinhero and his team have now developed a way to extract electricity from the collected heat and sunlight using special high-speed electrical circuitry. This team also partners with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to immediately port laboratory bench-scale technologies into manufacturable devices that can be inexpensively mass-produced.

As part of a rollout plan, the team is securing funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private investors. The second phase features an energy-harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat-process factories and solar farms.

Within five years, the research team believes they will have a product that complements conventional PV solar panels. Because it's a flexible film, Pinhero believes it could be incorporated into roof shingle products, or be custom-made to power vehicles.

More here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516181339.htm

[buddysmellgood]

1. Doesn't this seem like a big deal? What does that mean, 90 percent of available light?

[Demeter]

3. Yes, It's a very big deal

Right now, standard solar cells are 10-20% efficient. Fancy jiggering can get that up to 30%, but it's not commercially available.

90% efficiency means 9 times as much electricity per square foot of polar collector. Solar roofing, here we come!

[buddysmellgood]

7. Well that's what I thought. But if this is true, it should be on all the Networks and

on the front page of the paper.

[jberryhill]

2. Ah, good, the monthly "solar roof shingle" story /nt

[skepticscott]

4. The whole thing has a strange sound to it

It's not clear whether they've actually developed something or not. The implication seems to be that they have invented a solar panel that converts 90% of the electromagnetic energy hitting it into electricity. If that's not it, then what's the big deal? But in the second paragraph it says "Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum." That sounds a long way from actually having a working device proven to be 90% efficient.

And it also sounds odd to say "Within five years, the research team believes they will have a product that complements conventional PV solar panels." A 90% efficient solar panel would do a lot more than "complement" existent solar panel technology...it would replace it completely and solve a lot of our energy problems flat out.

[HappyCynic]

8. My understanding...

My understanding is that they've basically produced a custom-made sheet that under ideal or near-ideal laboratory conditions, has a conversion rate of 90%. So, they've developed something that *might* work as the base for a solar panel.
To get a working solar panel, there are a few more hurdles:
1. Materials - Are all the component materials readily available and relatively inexpensive? It's no good if it'll cost an arm and a leg per panel. If the current materials are rare or expensive, will similar materials work (probably at a lower efficiency)?
2. Resilience - The sheet will probably need to be coated or encased in something to make sure it can be exposed to the elements. A suitable material and bonding method will need to be settled on. (Coating it in plastic might not work if the heat from the process destroys the sheet.) How does the technology hold up under prolonged exposure to sunlight (e.g. 16 hours of Nevada sun)? Also, how durable is the sheet to repeated flexing and temperature changes? Anything done to protect the sheet will have an impact on the efficiency so that also needs to factor in to the materials used.
3. Manufacturing - Can the sheet be manufactured rapidly and cheaply? For mass production, how will variations in the quality and defects in portions of the sheet affect the efficiency? Does efficiency drop like a rock when a minor flaw is in the sheet or is it a more gradual drop off?
4. Durability - How long will the produced panels last in real world conditions? How will different climates affect the longevity of the panels? How will modifications to increase the durability affect the efficiency?

I've probably missed numerous other considerations so the above is by no means a complete list of the hurdles they still face.

So, in essence, I believe they developed something that works really well in the lab but might not work well or at all in general conditions. They're trying to get the funding to make it work outside the lab. If they succeed, the final efficiency rate will probably be significantly lower than 90%. However, even if the efficiency is cut in half, that's still about twice as efficient as current solar technology so it may still be a big boost.

Incidentally, I think by "complement conventional PV solar panels", they mean that you can hook them up the same way. So, if you have some panels installed already, you can attach some of the new ones to expand your solar array instead of needing to ditch the old system and replace with the new.

Hope this makes sense (and that I'm correct in how I interpret the article).

[valerief]

5. Wonder what country the US will give it to to make. nt

[Bill USA]

6. Well, if I'da known people on this forum would have been interested I would have posted this here!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x294777