12 Year Old Boy Invents New Type of Solar Cell
Now here’s a story that makes me feel profoundly unaccomplished: a 12 year old boy in Beaverton, Oregon recently developed a new type of 3D solar cell that makes other solar cells look inefficient by comparison.
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William Yuan’s 3D cell can absorb both visible and UV light. According to his calculations, solar panels equipped with his 3D cells could provide 500 times more light absorption than current commercial solar cells and nine times more light than existing 3D solar cells.
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Yuan received a well-deserved $25,000 scholarship for his research. The next step? Getting his invention to market. Of course, the viability of his solar cells will ultimately depend on their cost efficiency—but Yuan has his whole life ahead of him to work on that.
You can check out the original press release here.
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10 to 1 Tom Buscardi is involved in this.
In Ecotopia Emerging a young scientist, Lou Swift, from a Californian town called Bolinas comes up with a solar panel that supplies an increasing amount of electrical output that would enable Americans to unhook from the power companies. She then joins the Survivalist Party, which was started in order to maintain the safety of the environment, along with her father Roger Swift. As the government learns of her plans to release this to the public they begin to try and break down the party….
This kid is going to start world war III.
Here are a few data points and links about the 3D Solar Cell, which was invented by Dr. Jud Ready of GA Tech in March 2005. See http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=1337
The 3D Solar Cell has the potential to be breakthrough in the solar industry. The global and exclusive license to the 3D Solar Cell intellectual property is held by IP2BIZ in Atlanta http://www.ip2biz.com/Offerings/ProofCoProjects.asp#ThreeDSolarCells The license is for sale to an firm that can further develop, manufacture and bring it to market.
What is very interesting is if you look at the animation of Dr. Ready’s solar cell, at http://www-stage.gatech.edu/news-room/flash/CNTpv.html you’ll notice that the graphics in the photo of this Oregon boy’s presentation are the spitting image of Dr. Ready’s.
Dr. Ready’s PCT patent application WO/2007/040594 was published in April 2007 at http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41238067-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1349795&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=B&RESULT=1&TOTAL=1&START=1&DISP=25&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=US2006007290&QUERY=%28WO%2fwo2007040594%29+
That Guy is great, and someone’s here trying to hold onto 3D solar cell exclusively, “Kirk Englehardt” relating the 3D solar tech to Georgia Tech Research institute acade-mia’s, sorry Kirk, generations before 2004 this tech have been in use right in several remote villages and Green hills around the GLOBE and in aFRIKA specifically i am sure of. So laying claims of any exclusive intellectual proprty right = (Bio-Spiracy) to this because of any broaden pronouncement, will only detarr further advancement for the improvement of the Tech’s. Georgia Tech RI sholud as a matter of biz ethics negotiate for any such tech marketing franchize and not D/E right. Remember even inventions are mere development of what is already existing but maybe not popularly known, so men has never created anything, but only interpreted things.
Those who do the substantial work in science and engineering, developing something new - deserve the credit and rewards. When they publish, their intellectual property is sadly ripe for poaching and copying.
That appears to be the case with what Georgia Tech developed, and this kid is using. It reminds me of the paper clip invention. Some guy added ridges and made $300k - none of which went to the original inventor.
Whether your operating in the real world with large solar array panels as a 3-D Pattern which collects Solar Energy in reflected wavelengths or in a Nano Environment where you are not a factor the same relationship is encountered, reflected light does not provide adequate energy and may not generate anything at all while this seems logically satisfying to non perfect Nano Tower Growth the reflected Solar Energy hardly can get into a alleyway between the Nano Towers as they are some more distant apart than others. This crude technological speculation therefore drives a motion to spin the cells and then run tests which would be a additional patent matter to resolve whether this 3-D Pattern could then offer a better collective area. Therefore a Hexagonal Spinning Device having 2-D Solar Cells affixed to it might top the uVolt range of non 3-D Solar Cells.
The comment about the 3d photo cell from Goergia Tech being the first is incorrect. The 2 technologies are not the same. The 3d cell from the 12 kid absorbs more than one frequency on light…so he called it 3d. The technology from Georgia Tech are tiny structures that increase the surface area of the panel. Again totaly diferent. The kids onto something and Goergia tech wants to claim they invented it…what else is new????????
People I think you are missing the point. The kid invented a panel that uses not just the photons but the ultraviolet rays as well. Therefore in the calculation you don’t just have the energy from the photons….think about it you braniacs
Edward has a point — the article is seriously wrong about the potential energy collecting capacity of these cells.
There is a finite amount of radiant energy available to be harvested in the sunlight falling on a given area. The average for the earth is about 1366 watts per square meter. Current commercial solar cells are around 20 percent efficient, meaning they can collect a fifth of that available energy. Ultra-expensive experimental cells can collect a third or more of the available energy to which they’re exposed.
“500 times” the absorption of current commercial cells is simply not possible — you can’t absorb more energy than is there to begin with.
I think the 500% increase is being incorrectly used. If we think of something that is 100% then it’s the same as the item being compared. A 500% increase is 5 times the efficiency. The numbers I’ve seen in the commercial solar cell industry are still 12 to 14% efficient. I also generally say the number of 1000 watts per meter as the amount of radiant energy available but that might be at sea level or just visable light. Anyway, if this cell can take us from 12% to 60% efficient that would mean a 1 meter panel would have an output of 600 watts and if anybody has held onto a paten that would do that since 2005 without mass producing them they should lose the paten or the cost of building the cells makes the paten worthless.