Quantum Dots Could Double Solar Energy Efficiency

dptalia notes the recent publication in Science of research demonstrating a way to use hot electrons in solar cells, resulting in an overall energy conversion efficiency of 66%. Here is the abstract in Science; access to the full article requires a subscription. "A team of University of Minnesota-led researchers has cleared a major hurdle in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels, which rarely exceed 30 percent. ... Tisdale and his colleagues demonstrated that quantum dots — made not of silicon but of another semiconductor called lead selenide — could indeed be made to surrender their 'hot' electrons before they cooled. The electrons were pulled away by titanium dioxide, another common inexpensive and abundant semiconductor material that behaves like a wire."

Comments

Re:How much energy are we talking about?

[CarpetShark]

You're confusing energy conversion efficiency with energy production. The main connection there is that less efficiency means more raw resources for the same result. They're certainly not the same thing.

I think what the GP was getting at is something like, "This sounds way better than past solar conversion efficiency. Can we know build viable solar power stations? What about orbital solar power satellites? Where does this leave coal and nuclear power stations? What will the overall energy production strategy be, once this comes to market, given projected energy needs WHEN it will come to market?"

That's not a set of questions you want to answer too hastily.

Re:Could, might, may...

[Sockatume]

It's a research paper, not a god-damned press release. Don't blame the scientists for publishing their awesome research in a prestigous journal, blame the journalists who treat every Friday as a chance to jizz out a couple of easy stories by rewriting articles in Science.