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| Arabia |
| Saudi Arabia Working on Replacement for Hydrocarbon Energy |
| 2007-08-22 |
| Interesting bit of work. Intriguing that it is being done in part by Saudi Arabian universities. At least somebody over there realizes the oil will run out soon, but the sunshine won't - and they have LOTS of sunshine in Saudi Arabia. Lots of silicon too. ANYTHING related to Saudi Arabia is ultimately somehow related to the war with Islamism. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Placing a film of silicon nanoparticles onto a silicon solar cell can boost power, reduce heat and prolong the cell’s life, researchers now report. Integrating a high-quality film of silicon nanoparticles 1 nanometer in size directly onto silicon solar cells improves power performance by 60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum,” said Munir Nayfeh, a physicist at the University of Illinois and corresponding author of a paper accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters. A 10 percent improvement in the visible range of the spectrum can be achieved by using nanoparticles 2.85 nanometers in size, said Nayfeh, who also is a researcher at the university’s Beckman Institute. In conventional solar cells, ultraviolet light is either filtered out or absorbed by the silicon and converted into potentially damaging heat, not electricity. In previous work, however, Nayfeh showed that ultraviolet light could efficiently couple to correctly sized nanoparticles and produce electricity. That work was reported in the August 2004 issue of the journal Photonics Technology Letters. To make their improved solar cells, the researchers began by first converting bulk silicon into discrete, nano-sized particles using a patented process they developed. Depending on their size, the nanoparticles will fluoresce in distinct colors. Nanoparticles of the desired size were then dispersed in isopropyl alcohol and dispensed onto the face of the solar cell. As the alcohol evaporated, a film of closely packed nanoparticles was left firmly fastened to the solar cell. Solar cells coated with a film of 1 nanometer, blue luminescent particles showed a power enhancement of about 60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum, but less than 3 percent in the visible range, the researchers report. Solar cells coated with 2.85 nanometer, red particles showed an enhancement of about 67 percent in the ultraviolet range, and about 10 percent in the visible. The improved performance is a result of enhanced voltage rather than current, Nayfeh said. “Our results point to a significant role for charge transport across the film and rectification at the nanoparticle interface.” The process of coating solar cells with silicon nanoparticles could be easily incorporated into the manufacturing process with little additional cost, Nayfeh said. With Nayfeh, the paper’s co-authors are graduate student and lead author Matthew Stupca at Illinois, professor Mohamed Alsalhi at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, and professors Turki Al Saud and Abdulrahman Almuhanna, both at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, the Grainger Foundation and the University of Illinois. {HT Glenn Reynolds} |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #9 Not to be overly pessimistic but if Saudi Arabia keeps on like it has, long before the oil runs out most of their abundant silion will be fused |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-22 21:30 |
| #8 Nanosolar seems to be doing much better at coverting sunlight: Breakthrough in solar photovoltaics 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. ... The company is now offering solar panels at below $1 per peak watt. Will pay more attention to them in the future. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-08-22 21:17 |
| #7 If nothing else, alternative energy sources are useful to provide marginal increases in available power, such that additional power plants need not be built at great cost. Especially in areas where the alternative source is consistently available. I've no idea how photovoltaic cells would survive sandstorms, though. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-08-22 21:16 |
| #6 Phil, there are CIGS solar cells that can be painted/printed on plastics (e.g. Nanosolar, Konarka). Their efficiencies currently are low (6%) but will improve, with latest R&D cells at 20% (better than polycrystalline silicon cells) and cost can come down to less than $1/watt. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-08-22 21:07 |
| #5 The media trots out the improving photovoltaics efficiency myth on a regular basis. Efficiency means bugger all (except perhaps it's effect on size). The issue is cost. Solar energy is just too expensive and oil would have to go to several hundred $ per barrel for it to be competitive, or photovoltaics would have to get dramatically cheaper (extremely unlikely) |
| Posted by: phil_b 2007-08-22 20:50 |
| #4 Oil will never run out. But it will become less economically competitive to alternatives. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-08-22 19:10 |
| #3 Fine, except that the oil *isn't* going to run out in the lifetime of anyone alive today. Think of the nifty solar panels they'll be making in 100 years! |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-08-22 18:21 |
| #2 So how long before this is declared unIslamic? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-22 18:06 |
| #1 Well, they have plenty of sunlight, that's for sure. When are they gonna start paving the empty quarter with these? |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-08-22 15:06 |