Very high efficiency solar

[Old Rocks]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
MU engineer plans to make solar panels more effective in collecting energy


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.

"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
MU engineer plans to make solar panels more effective in collecting energy


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.

"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."

What is the cost of manufacturing these new panels in comparison to the old ones?

Do you have any links on where maybe someone could buy one if they want to?

Are they even available to people like me yet?

If you can't tell im on the market for some solar cells .

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Why don't just they make the products out of CO2?

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

why don't just they make the products out of co2?

brilliant!

 

[Mr. H.]

Very groovy development.

 

[Old Rocks]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
MU engineer plans to make solar panels more effective in collecting energy


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.

"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."

What is the cost of manufacturing these new panels in comparison to the old ones?

If they achieve anywhere near 90% efficiency, it should be far cheaper than the present solar panels, some of which can be had for under $1 a watt.

Do you have any links on where maybe someone could buy one if they want to?

No, this is in the lab stage at present.

Are they even available to people like me yet?

Not when it is in the lab stage.

If you can't tell im on the market for some solar cells .

OK, there are some simple rules for that. One, if you are mechanically inclined, you can buy the individual cells, like, say, the A-300, and build your own panels. That represents a huge saving. However, for many, if not most, a better way to go is to get a panel kit, and do your own installation. That will represent quite a saving by itself.

At present, the best efficiencies are about 20% for the cells, about 17% for the panels. The differance is the wasted space because of the round cells. If they can actually get the panels to anywhere near 90% that will represent more than 4 times the output for a given area. And mean that absolute south facing is not neccessary.

I have seen claims like this for many other types of innovations in solar, only to see them run into technical problems that have yet to be solved. Q-dots, and many other innovations. So, that is why I am state it wil be interesting to see how this develops. I hope this is for real, but would not put off purchasing solar now if it is economical for you.

 

[Old Rocks]

Very groovy development.

If it can be brought to the manufacturing stage. That is where many products like this die. Producing something one off in the lab, and by the million in a manufacturing environment are definately two differant things.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
MU engineer plans to make solar panels more effective in collecting energy


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.

"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."

What is the cost of manufacturing these new panels in comparison to the old ones?

If they achieve anywhere near 90% efficiency, it should be far cheaper than the present solar panels, some of which can be had for under $1 a watt.

Do you have any links on where maybe someone could buy one if they want to?

No, this is in the lab stage at present.

Are they even available to people like me yet?

Not when it is in the lab stage.

If you can't tell im on the market for some solar cells .

OK, there are some simple rules for that. One, if you are mechanically inclined, you can buy the individual cells, like, say, the A-300, and build your own panels. That represents a huge saving. However, for many, if not most, a better way to go is to get a panel kit, and do your own installation. That will represent quite a saving by itself.

At present, the best efficiencies are about 20% for the cells, about 17% for the panels. The differance is the wasted space because of the round cells. If they can actually get the panels to anywhere near 90% that will represent more than 4 times the output for a given area. And mean that absolute south facing is not neccessary.

I have seen claims like this for many other types of innovations in solar, only to see them run into technical problems that have yet to be solved. Q-dots, and many other innovations. So, that is why I am state it wil be interesting to see how this develops. I hope this is for real, but would not put off purchasing solar now if it is economical for you.

Thanks man. I dont usually agree with your thoughts and ideas in the Global Warming arena but that doesn't mean I don't like green tech like solar panels .

 

[auditor0007]

What is the cost of manufacturing these new panels in comparison to the old ones?

If they achieve anywhere near 90% efficiency, it should be far cheaper than the present solar panels, some of which can be had for under $1 a watt.

Do you have any links on where maybe someone could buy one if they want to?

No, this is in the lab stage at present.

Are they even available to people like me yet?

Not when it is in the lab stage.

If you can't tell im on the market for some solar cells .

OK, there are some simple rules for that. One, if you are mechanically inclined, you can buy the individual cells, like, say, the A-300, and build your own panels. That represents a huge saving. However, for many, if not most, a better way to go is to get a panel kit, and do your own installation. That will represent quite a saving by itself.

At present, the best efficiencies are about 20% for the cells, about 17% for the panels. The differance is the wasted space because of the round cells. If they can actually get the panels to anywhere near 90% that will represent more than 4 times the output for a given area. And mean that absolute south facing is not neccessary.

I have seen claims like this for many other types of innovations in solar, only to see them run into technical problems that have yet to be solved. Q-dots, and many other innovations. So, that is why I am state it wil be interesting to see how this develops. I hope this is for real, but would not put off purchasing solar now if it is economical for you.

Thanks man. I dont usually agree with your thoughts and ideas in the Global Warming arena but that doesn't mean I don't like green tech like solar panels .

Sooner or later, someone is going to develop something in the alternate energy field that is going to completely change the way we get our energy.

 

[Old Rocks]

Well, it can't happen too soon.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Sooner or later, someone is going to develop something in the alternate energy field that is going to completely change the way we get our energy.

Well, it can't happen too soon.

So are you admitting it hasn't been invented yet? That Wind and Solar and Unicorn Farts aren't the answer?

 

[Mr. H.]

My kid learned in science class that when you smell a fart, you're actually inhaling particles of poop.

 

[code1211]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy

New solar product captures up to 95 percent of light energy
MU engineer plans to make solar panels more effective in collecting energy


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.

"Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone," Pinhero said. "If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today."

This looks interesting.

I can see this as a future roofing material, if that is workable, and spreading around the country and world as an economical replacement for a standard roof.

There was an article somewhere that a research group was working on a solar collector system that was essentially applied like spray paint. This could potentially make everything from shingles to baseball caps solar collectors.

Exciting times are just ahead.

 

[code1211]

Why don't just they make the products out of CO2?

That might be a good use for Carbon Fiber. Can Carbon Fiber be made from the by products of burning coal?

 

[whitehall]

Poor old Billy Mays was a better salesman than the desperate left will ever be. Um, let me see...."researchers have developed yada yada which will be available in five or ten years" so continue to trust the socialist administration because the brave new world of alternate energy is right around the corner. Meanwhile we pay around $4.00 per gallon and diesel costs around $5 and Obama tells us things ain't gonna get better in the near future.

 

[Old Rocks]

Well, Whitey, it ain't gonna get better. Supply and demand. Ya see, we ain't the only hogs at the trouph now.

Let's see, researchers developed a new use for some esoteric material called semiconductors. I imagine were you alive then, you would have made ridiculed that.

Yes, the brave new world of alternative energy is coming to be. Wind alone now has over 40 gw of generating capacity in this nation. Iowa gets 15% of its power from wind. Solar holds the promise of allowing the homeowner to provide not only the energy for the home, but the fuel for his vehicle.

Of course, for the present 'Conservative' the idea of more independence and liberty for the average citizen is a frightening thought.

 

[code1211]

Well, Whitey, it ain't gonna get better. Supply and demand. Ya see, we ain't the only hogs at the trouph now.

Let's see, researchers developed a new use for some esoteric material called semiconductors. I imagine were you alive then, you would have made ridiculed that.

Yes, the brave new world of alternative energy is coming to be. Wind alone now has over 40 gw of generating capacity in this nation. Iowa gets 15% of its power from wind. Solar holds the promise of allowing the homeowner to provide not only the energy for the home, but the fuel for his vehicle.

Of course, for the present 'Conservative' the idea of more independence and liberty for the average citizen is a frightening thought.

You really don't understand the meanings of Conservative and Liberal at all, do you.

 

[Old Rocks]

Most conservatives and liberals that I know are absolutely delighted at the idea of renewable clean energy, particularly if it can be done on an individual basis, and supply energy both for the home and vehicle. Most 'Conservitives' react to the idea as if someone were threatoning to crucify them.

 

[Mr. H.]

Hydrocarbons butter my bread, but even I'll assert that alternatives/renewables are no longer just a cottage industry.

There was a time when even cottage cheese was looked down upon, and now it's a staple on grocery shelves.

Cheese curds... now there's an emerging market!

 

[uscitizen]

Poor old Billy Mays was a better salesman than the desperate left will ever be. Um, let me see...."researchers have developed yada yada which will be available in five or ten years" so continue to trust the socialist administration because the brave new world of alternate energy is right around the corner. Meanwhile we pay around $4.00 per gallon and diesel costs around $5 and Obama tells us things ain't gonna get better in the near future.

What a poop head.