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497
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https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:2Z7aIvmX6rkJ:...
This could be a bit a game changer for DIY solar energy. Glycol, PVP, and AgNO3 on glass or polymer results in a random mesh of nanowires that are
quite conductive after annealing at 200* while retaining 85% transparency. They performed about as well as current transparent doped oxide coatings
overall. Also happens to be flexible to a 4mm radius with no degradation. How cool is that?
Combined with TiO2 particles coated in anthocyanins and saturated with iodide solution, this could be a really simple and low cost solar cell. They
call for a Pt layer on the back side of the electrolyte. Not sure if it could be avoided. If not, this looks pretty easy http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am900918y
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:69lB-W-ga2QJ:...
Another interesting paper, reports that Ag nonowire grids of appropriate dimensions increase efficiency at least 30% above ITO conductive coatings.
This is due to the "surface plasmon" effect which promises to greatly increase overall efficiencies. They mention that the Ag nanowires that create
the effect can also be used as the transparent electrode. I figure this means we could gain even greater benefit using the solution deposited
nanowires which are considerably smaller and more evenly distributed than their grid. 30% efficiency is claimed here http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2008/12/29/surface-plasmons-i... using "metal nanoparticles."
Polymer electrolytes may end up being much easier than the sintered TiO2+liquid method in the Gratzel cell. Need to look into this more. Here's a
simple DIY nanostructured ZnO polymer cell http://orbit.dtu.dk/getResource?recordId=227973&objectId... and here is a better polymer and how to make it http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php?pid=235689&...
This field is so fascinating to me because of the potential great improvements that can be accomplished be simple modifications. The massive
implications of said improvements is even more exciting. We could be trying this stuff out now, or waiting 3-5 years for the corporations to sell it
to us. Take your pick...
In conclusion, no solar energy is not a pipe dream.
[Edited on 4-2-2012 by 497]
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497
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I've been saying duckweed is promising for a long time, now here's some proof.
http://m.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110314...
Same cost as nuclear/coal they say.
How complicated can the system really be?
Why not directly ferment the starch content of the plant (which is at least 5 times more per acre vs corn) then distill off the ethanol to leave the
protein and fat intact to be used as high quality feed additive. If you don't need the protein then anaerobic digestion or combustion would yield more
energy.
The cost of other waste treatment is greatly reduced by the duckweed, adding further to the benefits.
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White Yeti
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What about using some solar energy to desalinate water? After all, many metals can potentially be mined from the sea, magnesium being one of them.
Desalination is the first step. So even though sea salt could be considered a byproduct, it contains all sorts of goodies, like uranium, magnesium,
vanadium, manganese and of course, everyone's favourite, GOLD.
Keep in mind that the rest of the world does not have access to safe drinking water. Solving the water shortage first is a better place to start.
"Ja, Kalzium, das ist alles!" -Otto Loewi
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Endimion17
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Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti  | What about using some solar energy to desalinate water? After all, many metals can potentially be mined from the sea, magnesium being one of them.
Desalination is the first step. So even though sea salt could be considered a byproduct, it contains all sorts of goodies, like uranium, magnesium,
vanadium, manganese and of course, everyone's favourite, GOLD.
Keep in mind that the rest of the world does not have access to safe drinking water. Solving the water shortage first is a better place to start.
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It's already done where it's "economically viable", in some parts of Middle East, though I doubt that the whole life cycle of such process doesn't
benefit from all that oil underneath...
Extracting uranium and gold from the sea is highly inefficient. The quantities per unit of volume are too small.
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White Yeti
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| Quote: Originally posted by Endimion17 |
It's already done where it's "economically viable", in some parts of Middle East, though I doubt that the whole life cycle of such process doesn't
benefit from all that oil underneath...
Extracting uranium and gold from the sea is highly inefficient. The quantities per unit of volume are too small. |
I agree that the process is not efficient yet, but it's only a matter of time until the technology matures to a point where this will be economically
viable. At some point, industry and agriculture will use more water resources than all our freshwater resources combined (think of how much water we
need to grow food, process cotton, raise livestock et-cetera).
At some point we will be forced to desalinate water because all our present water resources will either become too polluted to be used or flat out
depleted beyond replenishment.
If we are forced to desalinate water to obtain water for agriculture and industry, the salt and all the metals it contains will become a cheap
by-product, and someday we will be able to mine valuable metals from it.
Remember what we used to do with crude oil? We used to dig it out of the ground, distil off the kerosene and throw the rest away. There's no reason
why extraction technology will not get better as decades roll by. Historically, we've gotten better at separating mixtures into their components,
faster, more efficiently and with less resources, there is no reason why we will stop here.
"Ja, Kalzium, das ist alles!" -Otto Loewi
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497
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http://climate-connections.org/2012/04/02/biomass-insanity-m...
This is just sad... No wonder so many people see biomass as a farce. If you look at the way governments tend to treat it, you will only find more
proof that profit is the main driving force here. And sure enough after being repackaged as "green," the taxpayer is getting screwed just as hard. The
guys getting paid for their trees don't seem to see the problem with the old way of accounting the carbon... http://nafoalliance.org/featured/forest-owners-again-tell-ep...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/business/energy-environmen...
I just hope people won't abandon biomass because of some greedy land/industry owners trying to profit. Algae and duckweed have none of the problems
associated with clearing forests, and they grow orders of magnitude faster, while treating waste water and producing starch/protein/oil... There is
huge potential here.
A little about duckweed https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:k1OA-mh4MlEJ:...
10-15tons starch/acre/year = 1200-2000gal ethanol/acre/year
2-3tons high quality protein/acre/year
And algae can easy double/triple those outputs if done right... While corn can get you maybe 2tons starch/acre/year if you use Roundup and a bunch of
fertilizer... But which one are we paying for with tax dollars? http://www.showmedaily.org/2010/04/farm-subsidies-are-not-an...
[Edited on 31-5-2012 by 497]
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497
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Now this is finally starting to look really good!
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.200904155/ab...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.201100140/ab...
http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/c1/c1cc14687d/c1cc1687d.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21882872
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022024811...
Copper, zinc, tin, sulfur (and sometimes selenium), it couldn't get much cheaper than that...
Oh and it works for high temp efficient thermoelectrics too?
http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1185...
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/quantum/files/Yang_CZTS_nl2012...
http://202.127.27.99/selfweb/ketizu/chenlidong/Paper%20PDF/41-ShiXY_XiLL_ChemMater_2010.pdf
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White Yeti
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I listened to a TED talk and I didn't believe what the speaker said; he said that the cumulative capacity of the world's photovoltaic installations is
growing exponentially and shows no signs of slowing down.
He was right, take a look:
The very fact that this kind of growth is taking place shows that solar energy is becoming competitive, or that fossil fuels are becoming antiquated.
For how long this exponential growth will continue remains to be seen, but I truly believe that renewables will not reach their full potential without
a smart grid to manage the distribution of power. The next stumbling block will not be power generation, but the management and distribution of power.
"Ja, Kalzium, das ist alles!" -Otto Loewi
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497
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It took till 2009 for someone to come up with this???
Inflatable parabolic trough collectors... With bonus adjustable focal length.
They say potentially down to 1/20 the cost of traditional parabolics, max 400 C heat output.
http://www.research.fsu.edu/techtransfer/technologyopportuni...
http://www.research.fsu.edu/techtransfer/solarsausage.html
[Edited on 21-7-2012 by 497]
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bbartlog
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| Quote: | | algae can easy double/triple those outputs if done right |
If it were easy, someone would already have done it. Algae is hard. I do like the duckweed, though. That much protein has considerable value, and
unlike some of the more efficient algae duckweed is proven to be highly competitive in the wild, i.e. resistant to contamination. And duckweed is far
easier to separate.
The inflatable parabolics look like a great low-cost small-scale solution (like for heating house water). I see problems with them scaling to
commercial power generation, though: 1/50 weight is not an advantage for wind resistance, and those plastics probably don't have a great MTBF when
they get thermally cycled every day.
The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.
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Dr.Bob
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| Quote: Originally posted by White Yeti | | I listened to a TED talk and I didn't believe what the speaker said; he said that the cumulative capacity of the world's photovoltaic installations is
growing exponentially and shows no signs of slowing down. |
Yes, Solar is growing fast, but the scale of that slide is still less than 1% of the current energy usage of the world. So even doubling every 2
years, as that graphs shows, it will take about 15 years for Solar to become a major power source, competing with coal, oil, gas and nuclear. I am
quite hopeful that solar will achieve breakthroughs in cost and efficiency, that will help, but at current costs, it will be a while before it goes
further than 20% of the need, since it can most easily replace peak electric usage, not baseline. And work on energy storage and grid management will
help a lot.
So we need more than just solar to really deal with the growing demand for energy, as least for the next 20+ years.
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triplepoint
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I agree with Dr. Bob. Yes, it is true that solar capacity is growing rapidly, but it is starting from such a low baseline that it will not be a major
player for quite some time. Load-balancing and the transmission grid are also powerful obstacles to overcome. Also, keep in mind that much of
solar's recent growth is due to its being the political flavor of the month, heavily subsidized by governments. Expect the growth rate to slow when
the promoters can't deliver on overly optimistic promises. (see solindra bankruptcy, etc.). Look at warren buffet dumping his huge wind power plans
when he determined that there was no economically reasonable way to transport the resulting power. There's also no way around the fact that solar is
way less energy-dense than the fossil fuels of is touted to replace.
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