New Photovoltaics Made with Titanium Foil

Memorize writes "A company called Daystartech has released a new type of photovoltaic cell which, unlike almost all the cells currently in use, does not silicon. This is based on a thin titanium film. Given the current shortage of solar-grade silicon, and all-time high oil prices, maybe titanium solar panels are here at the right time. The questions are, will they release it as a consumer solar product, and what will be the price per kilowatt hour?"

Comments

price?

[soupdevil]

...cost effective for specialized military, homeland security and commercial applications.

In other words, ridiculously overpriced, and unavailable to the average consumer for the next decade.

Price per kilowatt hour...

[MisterLawyer]

The way this question is posed demonstrates a common misunderstanding of the costs and benefits of investing in alternative energy sources.

Obviously, the marginal price per kilowatt hour is $0. The difference between obtaining 100 kilowatt hours and 101 kilowatt hours is nothing. You would simply have to wait for enough sunlight to hit the solar panel to generate that extra 1 kilowatt hour.

The true cost of investing in solar energy is in the intial cost of manufacturing and setting up the panel.

Thus, the actual cost per kilowatt hour depends on how long you use the solar panel. The longer you use the panel, the cheaper each kilowatt hour becomes.

Re:Price per kilowatt hour...

[soupdevil]

That's assuming zero maintenance costs, and that waiting costs you nothing.

Re:Slicon Shortage

[darkmeridian]

It's not meant to replace largescale silicon photovoltaic cells. Instead, it's meant for use on UAVs and balloons and stuff. Price doesn't matter here, right?

Re:This has all been gone over before...

[nadaou]

To clear up some common misconceptions you listed:

* Wind: Dead birds, intermittency in many areas, large surface areas, noise

Dead bird thing is mostly a myth. You will kill a thousand times more birds of prey by putting in a highway & getting them hit while munching on roadkill. Radio towers and bridges are just as dangerous as wind tubines to birds.

see http://www.homepower.com/files/birds.pdf
"Wind Generators and Birds: Power Politics?"

Large surface area: most wind farms are dual use, cows still munch the grass, only a small percent of land is lost to use, and that is mostly from access roads.

Noise: true for 1970's turbines. All new turbines are geared and rotate quite slowly. I've stood under one of the new 200' tall versions in 40mph winds.. you just hear a gentle swoosh. From a 1/4 mile away you don't hear it at all.

* Solar: Sigificant chemical wastes, large surface areas

just to note the really nasty galium arsenide solar cells are a tiny fraction (ie only NASA & similar use them). Most solar cells are made from recycled Si from the chipmaking process. That waste is already being made by computer chip makers; the solar cell manufacture process actually reduces existing industrial waste!

* Tidal: Beach erosion, corrosion of power units

Beach erosion? Please explain how dampening waves causes beach erosion? I just don't see it. Even if you unmix "tides" with "wind waves". Tide power is fairly hard to harness unless you live in an area of freak tidal range.

* Hydroelectric: Large loss of land, high greenhouse gas releases

The "high greenhouse gas releases" is a misleading arguement at best. Long and the short of it is that methane from anoxic lake sediment is not a net change to the carbon budget. Burning fossil fuels is.
see this comment for a fuller justification: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=144076 &cid=12073778