Invisible Solar Nano Cells Promise Clean Energy

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."

Comments

I Hate Science Reporting

[MBCook]

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.

Re:I Hate Science Reporting

[sumdumass]

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.

Re:I Hate Science Reporting

[Falstius]

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.