Quantum Dot Recipe May Lead To Cheaper Solar Panels

Science Daily is reporting that scientists have developed a new method for cost-effectively producing four-armed quantum dots that have previously been shown to be particularly effective at converting sunlight into electrical energy. The discovery could clear the way for better, cheaper solar energy panels.

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More information about quantum dot solar cells

[mo]

From:
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060603/bob8. asp

"Both the Los Alamos and NREL teams calculate a maximum of 42 percent conversion of solar power to usable electricity. Conventional cells, by contrast, operate at 15 to 20 percent efficiency."

Hacking Matter on Quantum Dots

[metlin]

Wil McCarthy has an interesting book called Hacking Matter, which talks about Quantum Dots and explains a bunch of applications.

Quite an interesting read, and well written. And I think you can download the book online at his website, as well.

Highly recommended - entertaining, informative read.

Re:Oil Companies

[Rei]

I don't know where on earth you get that from, but it can take over a decade for a new oil field to come online. You think that they're sinking money a for things that will pay off a decade or more down the line but they're only thinking on a 3-6 month timeframe?

Part of the problem is that it *does* take a while to shift production. You can reopen old wells or expand an existing field in half a year to a couple years, but brand new projects take many years to get started. Consequently, they have to do a lot of gambling on what the state of the world will be. There are tons of oil resources (bitumen, coal liquifaction, oil shale, arctic and deep sea extraction, etc), but we're running out of the "cheap" ones. The question is, how much of the more expensive ones do we think we'll need, ten years down the road? Will Nigerians be sabotaging pipelines, or will the crisis be resolved? Will the middle east have calmed down or will a whole new can of worms have opened up? Will foreign governments make nasty surprises on your projects, like Russia taking over Sakhalin or the Venezuelan goverment taking over joint ventures with PDVSA?

Not exactly an easy problem to solve. Bet wrong, and you'll go out of business. But you have to bet. Oil companies don't stay in business for half a century or more by only looking at their next year. Yet, that's exactly what the supermajors have done -- stay in business, decade after decade.

Re:Show me the cheap pannels!

[sien]

Solar research has not had a lot of research dollars compared to fusion research, let alone any form of military research. This wasn't unreasonable when it seemed like there was no good reason for not using coal for power.

There has actually been fairly consistent, gradual improvement in solar panels.

If you're interested, get a hold of the May 8th Economist and check the Technology Quarterly. The article is online but requires an Economist subscription. There was an article on solar panels that was very informative. First, on price:

Even so, many people believe the prospects for solar energy have never looked brighter. Decades of research have improved the efficiency of silicon-based solar cells from 6% to an average of 15% today, whereas improvements in manufacturing have reduced the price of modules from about $200 per watt in the 1950s to $2.70 in 2004. Within three to eight years, many in the industry expect the price of solar power to be cost-competitive with electricity from the grid.

There is also a very interesting quote on how the technology can be compared to other technologies dealing with silicon and thin films.

The solar industry has in the past profited from the manufacturing improvements of chipmakers, and is now finding ways to benefit from innovations in other high-tech fields. "I think of the silicon solar-cell industry as a marriage between the semiconductor industry, where it gets its base technology, and the CD industry, which is very high volume," says Richard Swanson, SunPower's president and technology chief. Applied Materials, a leading maker of chipmaking gear, recently decided to apply its expertise in making flat-panel displays to thin-film solar panels.

There is also a graph in the article showing installed solar power capacity from 1994 to 2004. In 1994 there was about 0.2GW of installed solar power. In 2004 there was about 2.5GW of installed power.

From the article, you could go ahead and make up a 'Sol's Law', similar to Moore's law. It would not have anything like the 18 month double of transistor packing, but may have 10 year order of magnitudes of increases in installed solar panels and considerable reductions in cost.