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Breakthrough Efficient, Paintable Solar Cells

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the beam-me-up-or-something dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A new solar cell material has been discovered that converts 30% of the sun's energy to electricity." Here's another solar news story. These new cells can harness infrared light which is why they are so much more efficient.

18 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. Excellent... by inkdesign · · Score: 4, Funny

    .. as I've really been burnt up about the lost energy from my remote controls!

  2. Woo by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    So if I spray that on my tinfoil hat and run a couple of leads to my laptop I could have unlimited power!

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Woo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      So if I spray that on my tinfoil hat and run a couple of leads to my laptop I could have unlimited power!

      But is it worth the risks? If I undrstood the article correctly you'd have to go outside...

    2. Re:Woo by Cheerio+Boy · · Score: 2, Funny

      So if I spray that on my tinfoil hat and run a couple of leads to my laptop I could have unlimited power!

      Nope. The spray is a quantum tracking dye that allows them to focus their mind control rays more closely on people like you comrade!

      Please stay calm while a Homeland Security team comes to your aid to show you the greatness of Amerika!

      --

      "Bah!" - Dogbert
    3. Re:Woo by budgenator · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd just like to watch you strip the insulation and solder the wires coming out of a 1 nM solar cell!

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  3. wow! by Savage+Conan · · Score: 2, Funny

    If this pans out this could change the energy economy in this country. Not to mention the benefit third world countries could get from it. Imagine your grafitti powering your laptop.

  4. We're gonna need all that electricity... by razmaspaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    converts 30% of the sun's energy to electricity.

    We are gonna need all that electricity because if the sun is 30% smaller than it was before this thing our heating bills are gonna go way up!

    --
    I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
  5. Question from the wife of the future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this recharging unit make my ass look big?

  6. No way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    The film has the ability to be sprayed or woven into shirts so that our cuffs or collars could recharge our IPods, Sargent said.
    Hmmm, I assume this means that I have to go outside?
  7. Re:How much $$$? by l810c · · Score: 2, Funny
    I DID RTFA, why in the hell do you think I asked the question?

    Usually articles such as this, regardless of their source, contain some form of economic feasability statement etc.

  8. Re:How much $$$? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "every home having their southerly facing
    side painted with this stuff"

    Some of us live in the Southern hemisphere you insensitive clod!

  9. Interesting quote by one9nine · · Score: 3, Funny
    "When you have a material advance which literally materially changes the way that energy is absorbed and transmitted to our devices... somebody out there tinkering away in a bedroom or in a government lab is going to come up with a great idea for a new device that will shock us all," he said in a phone interview.

    I hope he means "shock us all" figurativley.

  10. Carnak: Resistance is Futile? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What did the borg say to the room-temperature superconductor?

  11. Meeting with Venture Capatalist by frostfreek · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sargent: "the new plastic composite is, in layman's terms, a layer of film that "catches'' solar energy. "

    VC: looks sceptical
    Sargent: "ummm, with the laser beams, umm, clayven"
    VC: inks the contract

  12. Re:POTENTIAL 30%, not actual by Hyksos · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just hate it when I see an article like this... I get about 5 seconds of renewed hope in a BIG scientific breakthrough before I think to myself: "Alright, let's see someone tear this thing to pieces in the comments". Not that I'm complaining, I usually learn more from these comments than the actual article :)

  13. Semantic Error by jfonseca · · Score: 2, Funny
    A new solar cell material has been discovered that converts 30% of the sun's energy to electricity.


    That is so obviously wrong. I have not RTA but I can't help but point out that it should read "converts 30% of the perceived sunlight into electricity".

    Cuz if you need a sure-fire way to fry Earth that'd be to convert 30% of the sun's energy to electricity down here.
    --
    Broken Hearts are for Assholes. - Frank Zappa
  14. Conspiracy! by Dan+East · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, how long before this new tech disappears forever after being bought out by the power companies? Remember that carburetor that lets gasoline engines burn water? I hear some Detroit auto-maker bought the design and buried it away for good. ;)

    Dan East

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  15. Re:POTENTIAL 30%, not actual by IpalindromeI · · Score: 2, Funny

    I feel I can safely say there just aren't any magic bullets to this problem.

    But did you see Underworld? They had bullets that trapped UV radiation. I think if we could develop those, we could kill off all the vampires and solve the world's energy problems. The bullets wouldn't even have to be magic.

    --

    --
    Promoting critical thinking since 1994.