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  • new record for solar PV efficiency

    From RS Wood@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 15 02:33:47 2020
    From the «sunny money» department:
    Title: Scientists Just Set a New World Record In Solar Cell Efficiency
    Author: [email protected]
    Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2020 21:02:00 -0500
    Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/MgAR6ALedYs/scientists-just-set-a-new-world-record-in-solar-cell-efficiency

    According to a paper published in the journal Science, researchers report they they have now hit an efficiency of 29.15 percent in the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell category. ScienceAlert reports: For this type of panel, the long-term target of more than 30 percent is now tantalizingly within reach. The latest lab tests edge ahead of the maximum 28 percent efficiency that perovskite/silicon cells have managed up to this point. [...] In this new research, the 29.15 percent efficiency record was managed with a 1 cm x 1 cm (0.4 inch x 0.4 inch) panel, so some serious scaling up will be required. The team says that should be possible, however. After 300 hours of simulated use, the tandem cell retained 95 percent of its original efficiency, which is another promising sign. The new record was actually first reported earlier this year, though the peer-reviewed paper detailing the feat has just been published. The scientists used specially tweaked layer compositions for both connecting the electrode layer and keeping the two types of cell together in order to reach their new record. It's another moment to celebrate, but the scientists aren't stopping: previous research suggests that tandem solar cell technology should be able to reach efficiency rates of well above 30 percent, and the team says "initial ideas for this are already under discussion."

    [image 2][2][image 4][4]

    Read more of this story[5] at Slashdot.
    [image 6]

    Links:
    [1]: http://twitter.com/home?status=Scientists+Just+Set+a+New+World+Record+In+Solar+Cell+Efficiency%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3qW7zJN (link)
    [2]: https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png (image)
    [3]: http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F20%2F12%2F14%2F2316213%2Fscientists-just-set-a-new-world-record-in-solar-cell-efficiency%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook (link)
    [4]: https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png (image)
    [5]: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/20/12/14/2316213/scientists-just-set-a-new-world-record-in-solar-cell-efficiency?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed (link)
    [6]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/MgAR6ALedYs (image)


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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Dec 14 22:29:09 2020
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 02:33:47 -0000 (UTC), RS Wood
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    Scientists Just Set a New World Record In Solar Cell Efficiency

    I've heard that for years....but I wonder if this new tech shows up in
    the market place.

    I don't follow this industry, but I suspect "same old way" is done
    over and over...OR...new tech prices are thru the roof when buying.

    Like in HVAC systems, you pay more for units that "save" you
    more...even when production costs are peanuts between models.

    95% efficient furnace may be a better deal than a 99% one...for
    example....in most insulated homes.

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  • From jeff@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Dec 15 10:08:08 2020
    On 12/14/20 9:29 PM, JAB wrote:
    Scientists Just Set a New World Record In Solar Cell Efficiency

    But this isn't solar PV's main dilemma, it's the long payback and non-dispatchable nature of something that is spuratic in output. Until
    they come up with grid-scale electrical storage that is super cheap to implement, solar -- and wind -- are not going to come anywhere close to
    being real solutions to transitioning away from fossil fuels. Also,
    currently, both are higher dependent on the existing fossil fuel based infrastructure for their manufacture, deployment and maintenance.

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  • From danny burstein@21:1/5 to jeff on Tue Dec 15 18:33:17 2020
    In <rraqhn$eif$[email protected]> jeff <[email protected]> writes:


    But this isn't solar PV's main dilemma, it's the long payback and >non-dispatchable nature of something that is spuratic in output. Until
    they come up with grid-scale electrical storage that is super cheap to >implement,

    Already there.

    --
    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    [email protected]
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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to jeff on Tue Dec 15 12:43:49 2020
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 10:08:08 -0700, jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

    grid-scale electrical storage

    http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/us-grid-energy-storage-factsheet

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From jeff@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Dec 15 12:39:29 2020
    On 12/15/20 11:43 AM, JAB wrote:
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 10:08:08 -0700, jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

    grid-scale electrical storage

    http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/us-grid-energy-storage-factsheet


    You can see that pumped hydro is like 94% of all storage; everything
    else is really nothing.

    Expanding pumped hydro is not easy; there are only some many places that
    lend themselves to building an impoundments affordably and invariably
    people living nearby won't be happy about the change in scenery.
    And of course we're only talking about electricity, not the ~80% of
    energy use that is not electrified and is resistant to being
    electrified, mostly relating to transportation and heavy industry.

    It really makes much more sense to be planning on cutting our energy
    usage by 80%+ and treating fossil fuels as the precious resource they
    are, using them sparingly with an eye towards elimination. We can start
    by transitioning away from private vehicles for one; it doesn't matter
    if it has an ICE or EV motor, it's nowhere near a sustainable system of
    moving people around.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 15 13:31:47 2020
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 18:33:17 +0000 (UTC), danny burstein <@panix.com>
    wrote:

    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    I don't see it like this: [email protected]

    I see it as "dannyb...." in the header, and in the message.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to jeff on Tue Dec 15 15:39:19 2020
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 12:39:29 -0700, jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

    It really makes much more sense to be planning on cutting our energy
    usage by 80%+

    That's what Hunter Lovins was saying back in the 1980s

    https://rmi.org/

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  • From jeff@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Dec 15 15:34:35 2020
    On 12/15/20 2:39 PM, JAB wrote:
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 12:39:29 -0700, jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

    It really makes much more sense to be planning on cutting our energy
    usage by 80%+

    That's what Hunter Lovins was saying back in the 1980s

    https://rmi.org/


    Ya the RMI has been making the case for transition for decades. I think
    in recent years Lovins has become a bit of an industry shill but you can
    still detect traces of the old conservation impulse in his glossy book "Reinventing Fire'.

    Over in New Zealand they are a bit more grounded in what a sustainable transition might entail. Susan Krumdieck (prof. of mech. engineering,
    Univ. of Cantenbury, NZ) as been talking about such things for a while;
    she has been worked in various energy system fields for a few decades
    and seems to know what she's talking about.

    Some short videos that more or less cover the basics of what Transition Engineering is about:

    Transition Engineering: The Big Do
    https://youtu.be/eSPVBbIztWk

    The Ultimate Challenge for Transition:
    https://youtu.be/3ccV1GubXJA

    She has a recent book out called 'Transition Engineering', sort of an introductory engineering text but readable by laypersons, at least the
    first few chapters. Includes some real world transition plans done for Christchurch, NZ.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to jeff on Tue Dec 15 19:30:13 2020
    On Tue, 15 Dec 2020 15:34:35 -0700, jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

    Lovins

    Superficially, I'm aware of Amory Lovins, and around late 1980s or so,
    he did have one idea worth mentioning. In short, utility companies
    could reduce usage via insulating homes/businesses (etc means) out of
    their pocket rather than building new power plants.

    Gas/Electric utilities could know where homes/buildings are consuming
    excess energy, especially if a square-footage-property database was
    intersected with utility usage.

    Of course, reducing consumers' consumption reduces these companies
    bottom line...there's the rub. His focus then was in regards to
    wasted resources for a new power plant vs spending dollars for
    reducing consumers' loads.

    Lovins has become a bit of an industry shill

    In the mid 1990s, I conversed with Amory on reducing automobile fuel consumption via controlling rate of acceleration...not HP, but
    acceleration rate. Electronic fuel injection then was advanced enough
    to enable this "feature," which is available for some newer vehicles
    today, if a consumer switches to energy saving mode, instead of a
    higher performance mode. Of course, automotive industry would have
    gone ballistic on such a requirement. But it seemed Amory didn't
    grasp the relevancy of this idea, or perhaps, he assumed it was DOA.

    In previous years, I've heard a different idea being floated via
    controlling traffic speeds with embedded electronics in vehicles.

    Hence, behavioral changes, along with government
    laws/rules/incentives, are needed to 'motivate' the herd in greener
    pastures. But, it must be a longitudinal policy. US was headed in an
    energy savings mode in 1970s/1980s, but I suspect this failed mainly
    to business interests opposing this change. Gas, oil, and electric
    industries support economically politicians' campaigns.

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