http://gizmodo.com/391156/ibm-boosts-solar-cell-efficiency-using-magnifying-trick

IBM's researchers have been busily beavering away trying to improve solar power technology, and they've just come up with a neat solution that uses a surprisingly simple technique: concentrator photovoltaics. In much the same way as kids use magnifying glasses to focus the sun on things to burn them (we all did that, didn't we?) the IBM boffins combined a large lens and a photovoltaic cell to focus a record-breaking 230 watts solar energy per square centimeter. That ends up producing about 70 watts of useful electric power, effectively creating a solar cell about five times more powerful than the cells commonly used in solar farms.

The biggest trick was in working out how to cool the chips from all the extra thermal input created by the focused sunlight. To do this, IBM borrowed ideas from its own research into a liquid metal cooling system developed for semiconductors and used a thin liquid metal gallium-indium compound to bind the chip to a cooling block.

This new high power technique could of course result in smaller solar farms, or higher energy output from existing systems. Best of all, it's potentially a fairly low cost solution, which can only be a good thing for the environment.

That sounds promising. Malse? Go ahead and rain on my parade.

I think Google is working on a similar project.

i need to find the geothermal power system i saw one time. it can go into most areas...florida being a PRIME locaiton.

Whenever the means comes by my way after buying a home I plan to stay in, I will definitely get solar panels installed.

Aside from the benefits of being a little more self-sufficient, supposedly a good solar system is relatively maintenance-free as well.

This past year for Discovery I covered a thing called the "Solar Decathlon". Using the most modern technology at the time (2 years ago) 30 teams were able to create homes under $300,000 that were big enough for a family of four that heated, cooled, cooked, cleaned, and ran on solar energy only - AND powered the family electric car. They built all these homes on the front lawn of the Capitol.
Comparatively I can't even imagine how they'd use five times the energy per household. Thats some promising sounding stuff!

Comparatively I can't even imagine how they'd use five times the energy per household.
One great thing about having solar at home is that you can let the overage flow back onto the grid and the power company will credit you for it. Since solar generates most of its power during peak demand time on the grid, you can basically sell high and then buy low at night, when the panels aren't generating anything.

Yeah, the neat thing about the Solar Decathalon this year was the clouds. The competition came during an unseasonably rainy patch last summer and a lot of the teams had to get creative to keep their batteries charged above 25%. Being able to tap into the grid when you're getting creamed by the weather is a huge advantage.

I remember Ray Kurzweil at TED saying that if we could convert .03% of the Sun's energy that falls on the earth directly to energy, it would take care of our projected power needs until 2030. I never found a citation for that, but he's generally accurate.

edit: Or, to put it visually, see attachment.

Aside from the benefits of being a little more self-sufficient, supposedly a good solar system is relatively maintenance-free as well.

It's expensive to install and fix, but relatively maintenance free since there are no major moving parts. Hail and storm damage is your main concern, which generally involves complete replacement.

Solar is overall much more reliable than wind, and our asphalt deserts already told us what the rough environmental impact would be in terms of heat being captured by surface area. The nice thing about solar is that it really is effectively free after installation so the relative inefficiency of it doesn't matter much -- sunlight is hitting and heating that area anyway.


Go ahead and rain on my parade.

Bingo. Same variability problem, only not as bad since you at least get some refracted light and UV translated to heat even on cloudy days. I'm expecting fairly extensive solar installations on homes and buildings over the next decade, which reduces your daytime base and well as peak loads. If you'll skim back to the intelligent metering I mentioned in the wind power thread, we're moving towards lots of local small-scale generation to supplement the grid at the low-voltage segments (your neighborhood).

It's never going to run the city water pumps or the factories, but it will offload the small, predictable, local loads of street lights, houses, etc.

I read recently that there is a Cali. initiative to roof 100k homes a year with a new thin solar material.

I'll see if I can find the study, but the reading I did indicated that the new material was cost effective and very durable.

Here's an article which describes the FedEx shipping center in Oakland, CA, which is run mostly on solar power (I've also seen a TV special on the History Channel or somewhere about this place). I copied and quoted the more relevant parts of the article below:

http://news.van.fedex.com/node/7380


FedEx Unveils California's Largest Corporate Solar-Power Installation

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Aug. 9, 2005—FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) threw the switch today to activate California's largest corporate solar-power installation during a dedication ceremony at its hub at Oakland International Airport.

The solar-power installation will fuel 80 percent of the hub facility's energy needs, substituting the sun for fossil fuel and other sources of electricity. At peak output, the system will produce the equivalent of power used by more than 900 homes during the daytime. In addition to generating electricity, the solar panels help insulate the buildings, reducing heating and cooling costs.

"The solar-electric system at our Oakland hub powers one of our major FedEx Express hubs, which handles more than 260,000 packages daily and serves as a major gateway for shipments to and from Asia," said Mitch Jackson, managing director, corporate and international environmental programs, FedEx Express.

To power the facility, FedEx Express flew more than 300,000 Sharp solar cells from Japan to a Sharp facility in Memphis, where they were installed into 5,769 photovoltaic modules that convert sunlight directly into electricity. The 904-kilowatt system encompasses virtually the entire 81,000 square foot area of roof across the facility's two buildings.


That particular facility was modified in 2005, and as I understand it they are also going to modify additional facilities in the country. Quite a step I'd say for using solar energy, especially in an industrial setting! All that otherwise useless roof space put to excellent use!

Frakk It, let's build a Dyson Sphere and be done with it.

amen Velvet...

Well we've already got a Dyson Air Blade (http://www.dysonairblade.com/) ... does that count?