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Invisible Solar Nano Cells Promise Clean Energy

Posted by samzenpus on from the that-covers-all-the-buzzwords dept.

An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet is reporting that Harvard scientists have developed a silicon nanowire 200 hundred times thinner than a human hair that crank out up to 200 picowatts. Charles Leiber from Harvard University, who devised the technology with colleagues, is quoted: "An individual nanoelectronic device will indeed consume very little power, but to do something interesting will require many interconnected devices and thus the power requirement — even for nanosystems — can be a challenge". Conventional sources, he added, are "bulky, non-renewable and expensive" by comparison."

5 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. I Hate Science Reporting by MBCook · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Virtually invisible to the naked eye, a single strand can crank out up to 200 picowatts.

    I hate science reporting. It's also nice to know the editors aren't doing their jobs (ZDNet, I don't blame /.). What is a single strand? Is that 10mm long? 10cm? 1m? There is a big difference between those three. The summary just chops that sentence up worse. And why do they always use human hair as a comparison? Who's hair is that? Some people have very thin hair. For some people it is quite a bit thicker. If you are comparing it to the average, you should include that word. Also are we talking theoretical maximum or a practical estimation under normal daylight conditions?

    It's great to know this generates 200 picowatts per something. How about comparing it to a normal production solar cell. I'm glad you can make it thin, but it must need some kind of support structure to survive, so how much thicker does it need to be so it is actually useful? After all, the silicon part of a solar cell is just a fraction of it's thickness.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    1. Re:I Hate Science Reporting by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, I too would like to know more about it. Like can it be woven into a yarn or thread and made into clothing? A 200 pico watts isn't much power but if it is 1 strand 10 centimeters long and something like 10 strands can be spun/woven into a single thread similar to wool and cotton that can be used to weave and overcoat, how much power would that be? Could it be possible to make cover for your hybrid electric car or even a soft top that is also a solar charger so the batteries are at full charge sitting in the parking lot waiting for you to get off work. Even a ball cap that can power your Ipod or Walkman would be great.

      I mean the possibilities are endless depending on the properties of the stuff. It is made out is silicon it is small, and it produces power. It should be Usable in a lot of ways.

    2. Re:I Hate Science Reporting by Falstius · · Score: 5, Insightful
      As someone who teaches MEMs technology, I find myself frequently using the human hair comparison with new students. It is the closet thing to a microstructure that people have daily physical experience with, and helps give a feeling of scale. A 200 micron wide bridge is an abstract number until you understand it is about 1 to 4 hair-widths (depending on whose hair). Its not nearly as meaningless of a unit as LOCs (Libraries of Congress). If you have a better suggestion for a comparison, I'd love to hear it.

      Your point about leaving off the length is a good one. Science journalists don't seem to understand enough about what they're covering to know which points are important or which claims are plausible.

  2. Re:An obvious question? by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually it's moderately transparent - unless you happen to be one of the subset of humanity that has a particularly dark skin pigment. (Even then it's pretty transparent except on the outer layer - not that it matters. B-( )

    Hold your hand up to a lamp. Notice the light coming through it. Very diffused, but clearly quite a bit there.

    Of course if you move the nanowires out to the skin level the transparency of the body - even with a heavily-pigmented skin - is no longer an issue.

    However, given the enormous energy density of the body's processes there should be plenty of power to tap for "embedded systems". For medical sensors give me a sugar/oxygen fuel cell any day. (The body uses those. Though perhaps a different system might be better for straight electrical output.)

    Meanwhile this sort of structure sounds like it would make a dandy textile if it were thickened up a bit, spun into thread, and somebody can figure out how to connect to it.

    --
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  3. A furry battery charger? by Anaerin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Let's see, we've got nanowire that's "Thinner than a human hair", and generates 200 picowatts of electricity. So, if we use these things tethered at one end and free to sway loose at the other, we have a mat of electric-generating "fur". Fuzzy satellites? Implant into the human scalp (To cover those bald spots) and you could power your cybernetic implants. Self-powering Electro-Luminescent wire (Charges when off)?

    Weave these things into a cloth, and we could have spaceships with a power-generating solar sail. Or sailboats that generate the power for their electronics (And/or onboard electric motors) with their sails. Or electric cars with power-generating soft-tops. Heck, weave a cloth of these things and embed it in epoxy resin and you've got power-generating carbon-fiber-like body panels. Just paint the inside and use a clear laquer on the outside.

    Clothing that powers your wearable PC? In fact, what's to stop this being used as a low-current power conductor to start off with?

    The possibilities are (almost) endless...