How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

tahanson43206 · 2024-07-01 04:54:45

This topic is inspired by a discovery posted by Void ...

And this may fit into the situation: (link failed) I'll try to find it again.
Quote:
New Material Harnesses Wasted Light to Make Solar Panels More Efficient
Scientists have developed a glass-ceramic material that can convert ultraviolet light into visible light, significantly increasing solar panel efficiency. The material also protects next-generation solar cells from degradation under strong light, with applications in both terrestrial and space industries.

We had a topic on how to clean solar panels.

This one is more about how to design them to capture more energy from photons.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2024-07-01 04:55:21

This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.

Post #3 contains a report on "spherical solar collectors" ...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 38#p224838

The post at the link below contains data about solar radiation arriving at Earth at LEO and on the surface:
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 49#p224849

The figures are reported to include the full spectrum of radiation.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2024-07-01 19:01:29

Wanted to see the link but its gives an error not finding the article.

Tech company unveils tiny spheres that outperform solar panels using both sun and artificial light — and the company says they could hit 60 times the current capacity

BB1p9c5y.img?w=640&h=400&m=6

Tech company unveils tiny spheres that outperform solar panels using both sun and artificial light — and the company says they could hit 60 times the current capacity

created tiny globes — from a little more than an inch to nearly 4 inches in size — that can harness both sunlight and artificial light to make electricity, according to the manufacturer.

The spheres, which resemble tiny Death Stars (or, perhaps for a more niche Star Wars reference, normal-sized training remotes), are 30 times smaller than solar panels, with 7.5 times the output. Astoundingly, she said they are more than 200 times more efficient.

kbd512 · 2024-07-01 22:42:48

This is more marketing nonsense for people who believe "electricity = magic". Both their video and claims are straight nonsense. If a garden variety solar panel is 25% efficient at converting photonic energy from the Sun into electrical energy, that means it generates about 250W/m^2 in full sunlight at high noon. If this "solar sphere" is 200X more efficient at converting sunlight into electricity, does that means it generates 50,000W/m^2? The Sun is only delivering 1,360W^2 at the top of the atmosphere. This is either a not-so-clever scam intended to transfer money from not-so-smart people to the pockets of these scammers, or they invented a solar powered perpetual motion machine. I'll leave it to our readers to determine which one it is.

Void · 2024-07-02 04:59:58

(th), In reference to post #1: The original link I had has been damaged, but in this revised post a new version is existing: https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 20#p224820

The link is in here:

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/sola … 73236.html
Quote:
Tech
Solar panel breakthrough harnesses wasted light to boost efficiency
Transparent layer converts UV to visible light, while also providing protection for the solar cell
Anthony Cuthbertson
Thursday 04 January 2024 15:14 GMT
I recalled it was first posted about China anyway, so I guess this may do.

Done

Last edited by Void (2024-07-02 05:03:43)

tahanson43206 · 2024-07-02 06:12:24

For kbd512 re Void's reporting of rather surprising performance of new device...

At first reading, your skepticism certainly seems justified.

I don't have time to investigate further, but one question does occur to me ... There is a quantity of energy that is often quoted for photons delivered to the vicinity of LEO and then another for the surface of the Earth. What I'm wondering is: What is the spectrum range that is included in that number? It is possible that the range considered for the number (whatever it is) may be limited to visible light.

The corollary (and I do NOT know the answer) is that the total quantity of photon energy delivered to a square meter at LEO or Earth may be greater than the number often quoted, if the number often quoted is just for visible light.

I'm hoping someone in the NewMars membership has the time to investigate this.

I'll be putting in a long day, so hope there is a member with a few minutes to spare to look into this.

It would ** also ** help if someone has the time to ready the actual reference Void provided, and report a summary here.

Still, having said all that, I agree that kbd512's skepticism seems justified.

(th)

kbd512 · 2024-07-02 07:05:18

tahanson43206,

Of the light that reaches Earth's surface, infrared radiation makes up 49.4% of while visible light provides 42.3%. Ultraviolet radiation makes up just over 8% of the total solar radiation.

If total solar irradiance is 1,000W/m^2, then:
494W - visible spectrum
423W - IR spectrum
80W - UV spectrum

Edit:
"Total Solar Irradiance" (TSI) = "all photonic energy received from the Sun"
TSI at Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) = 1,361W/m^2

Last edited by kbd512 (2024-07-02 07:12:38)

kbd512 · 2024-07-02 21:31:42

tahanson43206,

This quote is from a NOAA web page about climate:

According to the UCAR COMET Program, about 43% of radiant energy from the sun is in the visible part of the spectrum. That is the total amount of the sun's energy integrated over wavelengths between about 400-700nm. Roughly 49% of solar radiation is infrared between 700nm-1mm; about 7% is from ultra-violet between 100-400mm; less than 1% of solar radiation is emitted as x-rays, gamma rays and radio waves.

I'll take their word for it since they monitor solar emissions.

tahanson43206 · 2024-07-03 06:00:17

Here is a link to the company web site....

>>> for link: https://wavja.com/wavja

This does appear to be on the overly optimistic side.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2024-07-03 14:49:05

New solar technology could dramatically change how we harvest light from the Sun, scientists say

The next generation of solar power could fit in the palm of your hand

The Christmas ball seems to act as a lens as it takes the light coming from all directions and targets it to the solar cells under it.

Moving beyond the 80-year-old solar cell equation

BB1pho8j.img?w=768&h=305&m=6

The new study, published in PRX Energy,

https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PRXEnergy.3.023008

Calliban · 2025-01-08 15:40:10

I can't remember if I shared this article previously.
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/ … batteries/

It concerns direct use of DC electricity produced by PV panels, without battery storage or conversion to AC via inverter. This saves about 90% of the lifetime cost and embodied energy of an offgrid solar power system. But it requires human beings to adjust their work schedule to make use of the energy when available. So energy consuming activities would take place during the day and more would be possible in summer than winter. And the amount of power used at a specific time needs to balance the power being produced.

A slight development of this idea would be to capture excess energy in dump loads, the most obvioys being hot water. This could be done by using resistance heaters that automatically switch on when there is excess power and switch off when other discretionary loads come online.

One problem with the idea is that most panels produce power at voltages of 12-48v. Some equipment will run on that. But high power equipment running on low voltage implies high current. That means thick conductor cables and keeping cables as short as possible.

Last edited by Calliban (2025-01-08 15:45:09)

kbd512 · 2025-01-08 23:03:05

Photonic Batteries

Prototype Material for New Strategy of Photon Energy Storage

Abstract:
The smart utilization of photons is paid global attention from the viewpoint of renewable energy and information technology. However, it is still impossible to store photons as batteries and condensers do for electrons. All the present technologies utilize (the energy of) photons in situ, such as solar panels, or in spontaneous relaxation processes, such as photoluminescence. If we can store the energy of photons over an arbitrary period and utilize them on demand, not only we will make an innovative progress in energy management, but we will also be able to replace a part of electrons by photons in the information technology for more efficient performance. In this article, we review a prototype of such a material including the current status of related research as well as where we are heading for.

Photon Battery Allows for Wireless Power With Temporary Energy Storage

Automated systems can run on pulses of light which are absorbed and stored in phosphorescent material.
The Photon Battery is a new phosphor-based technology which rapidly absorbs and stores light energy for later use. The system offers very exciting potentials over chemical battery technologies: dramatically faster charging times, higher cycle life, and a nonflammable bill of materials. The invention, patented by Nimbus Engineering, Inc., comes at a time where development of alternative energy storage solutions is critical to achieving a cleaner and more sustainable future as energy generation and transportation markets transition towards pure electric power systems.
Phosphors absorb photons and store their energy in electron traps, or molecular lattice defects. These traps effectively store excited charged particles in the form of metastable electrons, which then recombine to emit photons at a later time. Light is then collected by photovoltaic cells designed to match the phosphor’s emission frequency; the system will produce useful power for a variety of electrical loads for several hours after charging.
Put simply, if we shine light on phosphor, we can store that energy within the material. Over time, this material glows and emits photons which power adjacent photovoltaic cells. The system may easily be stacked to create larger-scale batteries, or ‘buffer’ storage, which are capable of taking in high specific power bursts of (light) energy, and then more slowly reproduce dimmer light to power a system.
Photon Battery vs. Lithium-Ion: What Are The Tradeoffs?
This conceptual approach provides an efficient method of transmitting and storing light within a material without incurring the same energy losses one would experience by shining light onto photovoltaic cells to charge a cycle-limited lithium-ion battery. Additionally, typical energy storage systems only endure a few hundred full (100% depth of discharge) charge cycles before needing replacement or becoming obsolete for its intended application.
A Photon Battery can be fully charged in seconds with sufficient input power, as opposed to hours, and is capable of doing so over 1 million times without experiencing significant degradation (<1%) because of its solid-state construction. The catch? Today, phosphors are not as energy dense as state-of-the-art lithium-ion technologies and are not meant for long-term (>24 hours) storage.
Instead, they are well-suited to function as temporary energy storage for mobile or remote applications. For example, an autonomous robot carting goods from one side of a warehouse to another could receive a [wireless] photonic charge for approximately 10 seconds and proceed to perform tasks for several minutes using the on-board Photon Battery power before receiving a subsequent photonic charge.
The obvious benefit is that this is achievable using a relatively small storage capacity that would seldom need replacing, if ever; this combination of rapid charging and high cycle life positions the Photon Battery to be uniquely valuable in the age of mobility and automation.
Power Relays & Photon Batteries
Nimbus Engineering offers Power Relay Technologies capable of receiving photonic energy from a distant transmitter to wirelessly power automated or remote systems. A Photon Battery may be easily integrated within these receivers, providing ‘buffer’ storage. Receiving periodic bursts of photonic energy which is immediately stored enables systems to break the optical link (or line-of-sight) to the light transmitter and proceed to perform several tasks before requiring additional energy.
Photoluminescent materials may just be the perfect optical receiver technology. And with a distributed network of Relay & Photon Battery powered systems, it will be possible to use light as a means of powering industrial scale operations: autonomous robotic systems, electric vehicles, and beyond.

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#1 2024-07-01 04:54:45

How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#2 2024-07-01 04:55:21

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#3 2024-07-01 19:01:29

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#4 2024-07-01 22:42:48

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#5 2024-07-02 04:59:58

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#6 2024-07-02 06:12:24

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#7 2024-07-02 07:05:18

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#8 2024-07-02 21:31:42

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#9 2024-07-03 06:00:17

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#10 2024-07-03 14:49:05

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#11 2025-01-08 15:40:10

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

#12 2025-01-08 23:03:05

Re: How to Improve Performance of Solar Panels

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