New Solar Energy Conversion Process Could Double Solar Efficiency of Solar Cells
A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.
Stanford engineers have figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil.
Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels — which becomes less efficient as the temperature rises — the new process excels at higher temperatures.
Called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, the process promises to surpass the efficiency of existing photovoltaic and thermal conversion technologies.
“This is really a conceptual breakthrough, a new energy conversion process, not just a new material or a slightly different tweak,” said Nick Melosh, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research group. “It is actually something fundamentally different about how you can harvest energy.”
And the materials needed to build a device to make the process work are cheap and easily available, meaning the power that comes from it will be affordable.
Melosh is senior author of a paper describing the tests the researchers conducted. It was published this week in Nature Materials.
“Just demonstrating that the process worked was a big deal,” Melosh said. “And we showed this physical mechanism does exist, it works as advertised.”
Most photovoltaic cells, such as those used in rooftop solar panels, use the semiconducting material silicon to convert the energy from photons of light to electricity. But the cells can only use a portion of the light spectrum, with the rest just generating heat.
This heat from unused sunlight and inefficiencies in the cells themselves account for a loss of more than 50 percent of the initial solar energy reaching the cell.
If this wasted heat energy could somehow be harvested, solar cells could be much more efficient. The problem has been that high temperatures are necessary to power heat-based conversion systems, yet solar cell efficiency rapidly decreases at higher temperatures.
Until now, no one had come up with a way to wed thermal and solar cell conversion technologies.
Melosh’s group figured out that by coating a piece of semiconducting material with a thin layer of the metal cesium, it made the material able to use both light and heat to generate electricity.
“What we’ve demonstrated is a new physical process that is not based on standard photovoltaic mechanisms, but can give you a photovoltaic-like response at very high temperatures,” Melosh said. “In fact, it works better at higher temperatures. The higher the better.”
While most silicon solar cells have been rendered inert by the time the temperature reaches 100 degrees Celsius, the PETE device doesn’t hit peak efficiency until it is well over 200 degrees C.
Because PETE performs best at temperatures well in excess of what a rooftop solar panel would reach, the devices will work best in solar concentrators such as parabolic dishes, which can get as hot as 800 degrees C. Dishes are used in large solar farms similar to those proposed for the Mojave Desert in Southern California and usually include a thermal conversion mechanism as part of their design, which offers another opportunity for PETE to help generate electricity, as well as minimizing costs by meshing with existing technology.
“The light would come in and hit our PETE device first, where we would take advantage of both the incident light and the heat that it produces, and then we would dump the waste heat to their existing thermal conversion systems,” Melosh said. “So the PETE process has two really big benefits in energy production over normal technology.”
Photovoltaic systems never get hot enough for their waste heat to be useful in thermal energy conversion, but the high temperatures at which PETE performs are perfect for generating usable high temperature waste heat. Melosh calculates the PETE process can get to 50 percent efficiency or more under solar concentration, but if combined with a thermal conversion cycle, could reach 55 or even 60 percent — almost triple the efficiency of existing systems.
The team would like to design the devices so they could be easily bolted on to existing systems, making conversion relatively inexpensive.
The researchers used a gallium nitride semiconductor in the “proof of concept” tests. The efficiency they achieved in their testing was well below what they have calculated PETE’s potential efficiency to be, which they had anticipated. But they used gallium nitride because it was the only material that had shown indications of being able to withstand the high temperature range they were interested in and still have the PETE process occur.
With the right material — most likely a semiconductor such as gallium arsenide, which is used in a host of common household electronics — the actual efficiency of the process could reach up to the 50 or 60 percent the researchers have calculated. They are already exploring other materials that might work.
Another advantage of the PETE system is that by using it in solar concentrators, the amount of semiconductor material needed for a device is quite small.
“For each device, we are figuring something like a six-inch wafer of actual material is all that is needed,” Melosh said. “So the material cost in this is not really an issue for us, unlike the way it is for large solar panels of silicon.”
The cost of materials has been one of the limiting factors in the development of the solar power industry, so reducing the amount of investment capital needed to build a solar farm is a big advance.
“The PETE process could really give the feasibility of solar power a big boost,” Melosh said. “Even if we don’t achieve perfect efficiency, let’s say we give a 10 percent boost to the efficiency of solar conversion, going from 20 percent efficiency to 30 percent, that is still a 50 percent increase overall.”
And that is still a big enough increase that it could make solar energy competitive with oil.
The research was largely funded by the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford and the Stanford Institute for Materials Energy Systems, which is a joint venture of Stanford and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, with additional support from the Department of Energy and DARPA.
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A new process of solar cell technology could potentially double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology. This technology, known as “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” could become a competitor for oil as an energy source. One advantage of PETE is that it becomes more efficient as temperatures rise, contrary to existent solar panels. Also, the materials one needs to make it work, are not costly, henceforth, increasing the affordability. Until now, solar panels wasted 50% of solar energy by converting it into heat. PETE solves this problem.
This article is about how PETE (photon enhanced thermionic emission) is increasing the amount of electricty solar panals put out. With PETE solar energy might start to competer with oil companys. PETE has doubled the tempurature solar panals can work in form 100 to 200 degrees C, and given an overall 50 efficacy boost. The new modules will be able to be easliy attached to the old modules to improve them. It also has a new layer of metal cesium which is a semiconductor they are still looking for a better semiconductor. In conculsion I think that at this rate solar power will soon be very big.
A new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology. The process, called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source. Until now, no one had come up with a way to wed thermal and solar cell conversion technologies. Because PETE performs best at temperatures well in excess of what a rooftop solar panel would reach, the devices will work best in solar concentrators. The research was largely funded by the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford and the Stanford Institute for Materials Energy Systems.
A new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to produce electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology. Unlike photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels the new process excels at higher temperatures. And the materials needed to build a device to make the process work are cheap and easily available, meaning the power that comes from it will be affordable. Melosh’s group figured out that by coating a piece of semiconducting material with a thin layer of the metal cesium, it made the material able to use both light and heat to generate electricity, until now, no one had come up with a way to wed thermal and solar cell conversion technologies. The cost of materials has been one of the limiting factors in the development of the solar power industry, so reducing the amount of investment capital needed to build a solar farm is a big advance.
This is a new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity, and is offering double the efficiency. The Stanford engineers who discovered it have already proved that it works.The process “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” (PETE), will reduce the costs of solar energy. Materials to make a device like this were cheap, easily available, and affordable. So i think this process will be helpful to this world.
This could offer more than twice the efficiency of current solar power. The process is called photon enhanced thermionic emission and could reduce the cost of producing solar energy. This excels when the temperature gets higher unlike current solar panels. More than half of the heat energy produced is lost because the material, silicon, being used can’t harvest it all. So, by using this they can harvest more of its energy. The PETE works at its peak at around 200 degrees C and higher. If they use the right material it could become 50 or 60 percent more efficient. The materials this uses are also easy to find and cheap to buy which will make these solar panels cheap to buy.
New Solar Energy Conversion Process Could Double Solar Efficiency of Solar Cells
Summary: Stanford discovered a new process called PETE, which combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology. This could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough that it could compete with oil as an energy source. The parts needed to build this were cheap and were very avaliable, which means that the final product would be cheaper than oil. They do this by simultaneously using the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity. PETE stands for photon enhanced thermionic emission.
A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. PETE (photon enhanced thermionic emission), could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source. Because PETE performs best at temperatures well in excess of what a rooftop solar panel would reach, the devices will work best in solar concentrators such as parabolic dishes, which can get as hot as 800 degrees C. The researchers used a gallium nitride semiconductor in the “proof of concept” tests. The efficiency they achieved in their testing was well below what they have calculated PETE’s potential efficiency to be, which they had anticipated. The research was largely funded by the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford and the Stanford Institute for Materials Energy Systems.
the PETE solar cells increase solar energy collected by collecting not just the light but the heat as well. PETE stand for photon enhanced thermionic emission. the old type of solar cell lost efficiency in the heat, but the PETE is more effective in the heat. Unlike silicon cells that are useless in 100*c the PETE can still be used in 200*c. PETE is triple effective as silicon cells.
there is a new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity. Its far more superior than solar cell technology. The process is called called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” it could could reduce the costs of solar energy power. engineers from Stanford have figured out a way to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to create electrical power that proves better than the original solar power.
Stanford engineers have discovered a new process that combines light and heat energy from solar radiation to produce electricity double more efficiently than the solar cells. The “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE, can make this energy process a rival of oil as a fuel. The new process can even thrive at high temperatures, which is better than the solar panels who decreased their efficiency as temperature increased. The materials are cheap, and this makes it very affordable. This is the first time that thermal and solar science have been brought together.
This is a new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity, and is offering double the efficiency.This excels when the temperature gets higher unlike current solar panels. More than half of the heat energy produced is lost because the material, silicon, being used can’t harvest it all.The researchers They do this by simultaneously using the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity. sed a gallium nitride semiconductor in the “proof of concept” tests. PETE stands for photon enhanced thermionic emission.
There is a new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity. It is more superior than solar cell technology. The process is called called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” it could reduce the costs of solar energy power wich will help our economy more. Engineers from Stanford figured out a way to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to create electrical power better han our usual power.
the new dicovery of using solar radiation called PETE for short makes solar energy cheaper for people to buy pannels and cheapper for producers to make. it also works better at higher teps. and really harvests the solar energy and harvest alot lot more energy than before
This article is about how PETE is increasing the amount of electricty solar panals put out. With PETE solar energy might start to competer with oil companys. PETE has doubled the tempurature solar panals can work in for and given an overall 50 efficacy boost the new modules will be able to be easliy attached to the old modules to improve them. It also has a new layer of metal cesium which is a semiconductor they are still looking for a better semiconductor. In conculsion I think that at this rate solar power will soon be very big.
A revolutionary new technology in solar panels has made solar panels harvest twice as much electricity as solar panels that do not use this technology. The difference being that traditional solar panels only use heat produced by the sun for energy, while PETE( Photon Enhanced Thermionic Emission) uses both the heat and the radiation from the sunlight to form electricity. Solar panels of this kind will preform beter in hotter conditions, which is not the case for the original type. With all of this being said the demand for Solar electricity is going to drasticly increase as a cost effective, renewable resource.
There is a new process that combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity and is offering double the efficiency and could possibly cost less. The engineers who discovered it are from Stanford and have already proved that it works.The process “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE will reduce the costs of solar energy. Materials to make a device like this were cheaper, easily available, and affordable. Hopefully this will be Helpful to the world and Help the environment.
1.The process called photon enhanced thermionic emission could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.
2. engineers figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity
3. cells can only use a portion of the light, using the rest to generate heat.
4. 50% of the initial solar energy reaches the cell
5. This makes the cell able to use heat and light for electricity.
1. There is a new process that generates electricity more efficiently and may possibly be cheaper than oil.
2. The new process uses materials that are cheap and readily available.
3. When the material is coated with cesium it is able to use both light and heat to generate electricity.
4. The new process works better at higher temperatures.
5. Its efficiency should be high enough to make it competitive with oil.
A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology
This article is about how PETE is increasing the amount of electricty solar panals put out
engineers figured out how to simultaneously use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity
(PETE), will reduce the costs of solar energy.
Hopefully this will be Helpful to the world and Help the environment
1. The efficiency of solar cell technology could double due to a new process that combines heat of radiation and light.
2. This process is called “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” or PETE.
3. PETE uses cheap and available resources to create energy.
4. High temperatures are needed to power it, but efficiency decreases at as the temperature goes up.
5. PETE could make solar energy competitive with oil.