Monday, March 25, 2013

Nanowires raise solar cells efficiency limit


    1. Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit


      R & D Magazine ‎- 2 hours ago
      Due to the unique physical light absorption properties of nanowires, the limit of how much energy we can utilize from the sun's rays is higher ...

  2. Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit - Science Daily

    www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130324152301.htm
    20 hours ago – Scientists have shown that a single nanowire can concentrate the sunlight up to 15 times of the normal sun light intensity. The results are ...

  3. Nanowires increase limit of solar cell efficiency ... - Science Recorder

    www.sciencerecorder.com/.../nanowires-increase-limit-of-solar-cell-e...
    3 hours ago – The researchers contend that their findings increase the so-called Shockley-Queisser Limit, which is the typical efficiency limit for solar cells.

  4. Nanowires Could Increase Solar Cell Efficiency Limits

    www.techfragments.com/.../nanowires-could-increase-solar-cell-effici...
    21 hours ago – A single nanowire can concentrate the sunlight up to 15 times of the normal sun light intensity, researchers at the Niels Bohr Institut, Denmark ...

  5. Solar Cell Efficiency Theoretical Limit Broken, Single Nanowire ...

    cleantechnica.com/.../solar-cell-efficiency-theoretical-limit-broken-si...
    8 hours ago – A simple, single nanowire crystal is capable of super-concentrating the ... cell efficiency, the “Shockley-Queisser Limit,” can likely be increased.

  6. Nanowires raise solar efficiency limit | Electronics News

    www.electronicsnews.com.au › News
    16 hours ago – SCIENTISTS in Europe have shown nanowire-based solar cells can raise the efficiency limit on solar cells, since a single nanowire can ...

    Nanowire Solar Cells Raise Efficiency Limit

    Mar. 24, 2013 — Scientists from the Nano-Science Center at the Niels Bohr Institut, Denmark and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, have shown that a single nanowire can concentrate the sunlight up to 15 times of the normal sun light intensity. The results are surprising and the potential for developing a new type of highly efficient solar cells is great.
    Due to some unique physical light absorption properties of nanowires, the limit of how much energy we can utilize from the sun's rays is higher than previous believed. These results demonstrate the great potential of development of nanowire-based solar cells, says PhD Peter Krogstrup on the surprising discovery that is described in the journal Nature Photonics.
    The research groups have during recent years studied how to develop and improve the quality of the nanowire crystals, which is a cylindrical structure with a diameter of about 10,000 part of a human hair. The nanowires are predicted to have great potential in the development not only of solar cells, but also of future quantum computers and other electronic products.
    It turns out that the nanowires naturally concentrate the sun's rays into a very small area in the crystal by up to a factor 15. Because the diameter of a nanowire crystal is smaller than the wavelength of the light coming from the sun it can cause resonances in the intensity of light in and around nanowires. Thus, the resonances can give a concentrated sunlight, where the energy is converted, which can be used to give a higher conversion effeciency of the sun's energy, says Peter Krogstrup, who with this discovery contributes to that the research in solar cell technology based on nanowires get a real boost.
    New efficiency limit
    The typical efficiency limit -- the so-called "Shockley-Queisser Limit" -- is a limit, which for many years has been a landmark for solar cells efficiency among researchers, but now it seems that it may be increased.
    It's exciting as a researcher to move the theoretical limits, as we know. Although it does not sound like much, that the limit is moved by only a few percent, it will have a major impact on the development of solar cells, exploitation of nanowire solar rays and perhaps the extraction of energy at international level. However, it will take some years years before production of solar cells consisting of nanowires becomes a reality, says Peter Krogstrup who just completed his PhD at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.
    The research is conducted in collaboration with the Laboratory des Matériaux Semiconducteurs, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the Foundation and the company SunFlake A / S. Their scientific findings work support results published in the journal Science in January. Here, a group of researchers from Lund, showed that the sun's rays was sucked into the nanowires due to the high amount of power that their solar cell produced.
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    The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen - Niels Bohr Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
    Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
    Journal Reference:
    1. Peter Krogstrup, Henrik Ingerslev Jørgensen, Martin Heiss, Olivier Demichel, Jeppe V. Holm, Martin Aagesen, Jesper Nygard, Anna Fontcuberta i Morral. Single-nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit. Nature Photonics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.32

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    University of Copenhagen - Niels Bohr Institute (2013, March 24). Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 25, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/03/130324152301.htm
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    Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit - Science Daily

     

    This news is very important to the future of energy here on earth. As solar cells move upwards in efficiency much like the computer chip did during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s it will make an incredible difference as solar cells become as cost effective eventually as oil and gas products in the near future.

    I foresee, (unless corporations and governments interfere) with this,  all cars and trucks in the world with extremely efficient solar cells and batteries on board so that most domestic production of electricity comes directly from cars and trucks in sunny areas that are completely covered on all top and side surfaces with solar cells. Energy could be both captured into batteries and also sold back into grids or used by households around the world.

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