Comments on: Solar3D Thinks Its Solar Cells Can Produce 200% the Power of Conventional Solar Cells

By: Balakrishna

Balakrishna — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:50:00 +0000

hi jagdish garu we r planing for 3 megawatt solar plant .is it better to go for 3d technology .can i get some tips & advises from u.pls give me u’r contact no.

By: Solar Power Companies

Solar Power Companies — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:10:00 +0000

would I love a solar charger for my iPhone; especially if I lived someplace that got a lot of sunshine! When will they come up with a kinetic charger? That has been around for watch batteries for ages!

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:11:00 +0000

I’ve just increased it again. Will see how long until I get complaints about the width of the comment box.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:06:00 +0000

lol

By: derekbolton

derekbolton — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:41:00 +0000

For up to 20 degrees, the graph shows the 3D efficiency as about double, i.e. 200% of, the baseline.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Site operator decision. Disqus will let you keep the nesting going but soon you end up with “3-character-wide” columns.

I just go back up to the first Reply above and tack on. I think people follow….

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When I look at their graph I don’t see 200%. Why not contact them with your numbers and see what they say?

If they’re up front people they’ll either explain or correct their site.

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Even if it’s only ~50%, that’s important because it extends the solar day on both ends and decreases the loss for those systems that never get seasonal adjustments.

By: derekbolton

derekbolton — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:18:00 +0000

(In reply to Bob, below; Disqus seems to cut off the reply chain at a depth of 4 :-()
I’m not disputing their numbers. They say they get double the intrinsic efficiency at some angles, and the graph illustrates that. I’m just saying that does not turn into double the output over the course of a day. For static panels, it’s about 50% more output.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:55:00 +0000

I took the graph as an indication of greater ability to accept light from greater angles.

Why don’t you contact Solar3D and see how they explain their number?

(Full disclosure: I neither believe nor dis-believe their claim. I wait until product comes to market before I buy into performance. What they say is interesting, but lots of people make interesting projections and most seem to come up short. Not all, but many. ;o)

By: derekbolton

derekbolton — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:47:00 +0000

Bob,
No, I didn’t, but I don’t see what that adds. I took the datapoints from the graph for the intrinsic efficiencies, then applied the other effects of time of day – foreshortening and atmospheric attenuation – to get the daily output. Are you suggesting that’s wrong?

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:29:00 +0000

Did you include this (from their site)?

High Efficiency

Solar cell efficiency is the measure of how much incident sunlight is converted into electricity. Most solar cells today are made from silicon, an inexpensive and abundant raw material. Due to the physics of silicon, the theoretical maximum efficiency of high-grade crystalline silicon solar cells is approximately 29%. In commercial practice, the efficiency ranges from 15% to 19%.(1)

Our 3D solar cell is calculated to have an internal efficiency of 25.47%, more than any existing silicon solar cell, and is designed to take advantage of low cost manufacturing processes.

http://www.solar3d.com/technology.php

By: derekbolton

derekbolton — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:22:00 +0000

I note that the claim is that the efficiency is doubled at some angles, but at those angles the output would be lower both because of effects within the cell and because the panel as a whole intercepts less of the sun’s output (a sine function). So what it turns into in overall output is not clear.
I plotted up the datapoints from the graph and found that the overall output should only increase by 55% for a static panel.
Then again there’s atmospheric absorption. Taking the attenuation factor to be exp(-cosec(elevation)*k), choosing k=0.2 (giving 32% at 10 degrees), and taking the output of a static conventional panel as 1, I get:
static 3D: 1.54
steered conventional: 1.65
steered 3D: 2.26
So don’t give up on the steering technology yet.
As k increases, the benefits of steering fall off, but 3D maintains a 54% advantage for static and a 37% advantage for steered.

By: anderlan

anderlan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:54:00 +0000

Bummer. Building a tracker is really the only challenge (interesting or fun thing) about adding solar to your house at this point.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:12:00 +0000

The big story here – the solar day gets longer. Without using a tracker.

Solar comes on line earlier in the day and stays on later into the late afternoon. That is very valuable. It reduces the need for storage or alternate generation.

By: Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Anumakonda Jagadeesh — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Of late I go mad as I read the efficiency claims of Solar Cell by the manufacturters?
Dr.A.jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com