Breakthrough in solar energy: ten times more effective solar power may be available in three years

[coyote]

The breakthrough scientists have been waiting for to make solar power cheaper, more efficient--and therefore a more effective replacement for traditional energy sources--has been made by a group of MIT researchers.

The researchers have updated a relic power source developed in the 1970s called luminescent solar concentrator or LSC. An LSC collects light through dyes painted on a transparent surface; the light is then transported across the surface to solar cells at the edge. In the past LSCs have been used with transparent plastic sheets, but MIT's solar concentrator employs glass instead.

***snip***

"We made it so the light can travel a much longer distance," Jon Mapel, one of the researchers, said. "We were able to substantially reduce light transport losses, resulting in a tenfold increase in the amount of power converted by the solar cells." This increase in efficiency by ten times could result in a true renewable energy revolution.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0710-hance_solar.html

[HereSince1628]

1. De ja Vu. Seems like I've heard that claim a whole lotta times

I think I can safely say that I'll be glad to believe it when I see it.

[NNadir]

2. Deja vu all over again. Let's all quit our jobs and wait for new jobs in the exponentially growing

super duper solar industry.

[XemaSab]

4. I actually got laid off from my job in the super duper solar industry

due to lack of work. :crazy:

[NNadir]

7. Well, hang in there. There's been another breakthrough.

The solar breakthroughs accumulate much more quickly than solar exajoules.

[madokie]

8. exajoules, is that something you do with your private parts

or is that just a big word you like to use to try to throw us peons off the trail :evilgrin:

quintillion



Edit to add: To the OP, this is steps in the right direction, thanks for the info

[NNadir]

9. It's a well established scientific unit.

It is equal to 10¹⁸ joules.

Basically if one is knowledgeable about energy and scale, one is aware of this unit. If on the other hand, one has no knowledge of the word, they have primitive, at best, understanding of the matter of energy scales.

[ElectricGrid]

3. I don't know if this is it, but someday there will be a breakthrough.

too much money pouring into the sector to not be.

[kristopher]

5. Fortunately any 'breakthrough' is only icing on the cake

Current technology is adequate to meet a large part of our energy needs. We need to ramp up the manufacturing for the existing technology.

[Indenturedebtor]

6. But but but just like the electric car we just don't have the batter power yet

Forget about the fact that both technologies are already being successfully used on smaller scales, and in some countries larger scales.

We just can't leave that Oil and Coal yet... just wait people just keep waiting. Progress is right around the corner :sarcasm:

Roll out what we have NOW FFS!

[skids]

10. Wow that was one tech I was not expecting to jump forward....

...I thought they'd forgotten about it. Like thermoacoustic heat engines/generators.

I'll have to dig up the links I had on it. Forgot where/when I posted those.

Incidentally these materials (minus the solar cells on the edges) would make a great coffee table toy. As long as they receive light, the edges glow a certain color (depending on the dye used).