This
is clearly getting closer to fruition. The theory has been with us
for a long time. Now we may start seeing physical reality. Consuming
70% of the incoming infrared energy would be welcome indeed and
dominate certain energy sectors.
I
particularly like its chances as technology of choice to drive my
Eden machine conceptualization. Vertical panels would dump wasted
sunlight directly into the affected trees. It should be possible to
optimize sun and shade management in such a system.
In
the event sooner or later, this will turn up in the solar industry
space and allow retrofitting of every panel out there for a doubling
or even tripling of throughput.
Rectennas
Solar Power Today made
the following announcement on February 6, 2013:
If it’s up to Brian
Willis, we will soon quite literally be tuning in to the sun. The
University of Connecticut professor has patented a technique to
manufacture nanosized antenna arrays that have the capability to
efficiently convert sunlight into usable electric power.
In theory, these
very small antenna arrays can harvest over 70 percent of the sun’s
electromagnetic radiation and convert it into electric power. These
are called “rectennas” due to their ability to absorb the
alternating current induced by sunlight and directly rectify it to
direct current. In contrast to existing solar silicon solar panels
which mainly work within a specified band gap, rectennas can be
tuned to harvest sunlight in the whole solar spectrum which makes it
very efficient.
Brian Willis, a
University of Connecticut engineering professor, was able to discover
a way to manufacture a working rectenna device. The process is called
selective area atomic layer deposition (ALD) and it can
precisely coat the tip of the device with layers of individual copper
atoms to achieve a gap of about 1.5 nanometers, a critical size
because this creates an ultra-fast tunnel that enables the maximum
transfer of electricity.
ALD can be
successfully used to create this very tiny gap, whereas existing
lithographic fabrication methods have been unable to create this
distance between the two interior electrodes. To put this in
perspective, this extremely small distance is 30,000 times smaller
than the human hair’s diameter. The appeal of ALD is its
simplicity, reproducibility, and scalability for mass production. ALD
can also be used in other areas including thermoelectrics, infrared
sensing, and chemical sensors. It is hoped that this technology can
one day help solar energy achieve cost-parity with fossil fuels.
Willis is
collaborating with scientists from Penn State Altoona to build a
prototype rectenna and test the efficiency in an effort to further
fine tune the technology.
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