Posted on 09/18/2008 10:25:13 AM PDT by pollwatcher
BEAVERTON, Ore. – A new invention could revolutionize solar energy – and it was made by a 12-year-old in Beaverton.
Despite his age, William Yuan has already studied nuclear fusion and nanotechnology, and he is on his way to solving the energy crisis.
It all started with Legos - after he learned nanotechnology to make robots take off. The seventh grader then got an idea inspired by the sun.
"Solar it seems underused, and there are only a few problems with it," Yuan said.
Encouraged by his Meadow Park Middle School science teacher, the 12-year-old developed a 3D solar cell.
"Regular solar cells are only 2D and only allow light interaction once," he said.
And his cell can absorb both visible and UV light.
"I started to realize I was actually onto something," Yuan said.
At first, he couldn't believe his calculations.
"This solar cell can't be generating this much electricity, it can't be absorbing this much extra light," he recalled thinking.
If he is right, solar panels with his 3D cells would provide 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than cutting-edge 3D solar cells.
"Which would make solar energy actually a viable energy source for the Pacific Northwest," Yuan said.
While college students have come up with unusual solar cars and the state of Oregon recently unveiled solar panels to power highway lights, Yuan is thinking global.
"It'll have a really positive impact on society and the environment," he said.
His next step is to get a manufacturer and market it.
Yuan is flying out to Washington D.C. on Monday to accept a $25,000 scholarship for his research. He earned the Davidson Fellow award, which is for those 18 and under.
the reporter cannot explain that which he doesn't understand to begin with........
It may be sound in the sense of capturing the otherwise wasted rays but I would think the production cost would be so much higher it would drive the price/per watt sky high. No doubt why the concept isn’t already used. But I haven’t read the articles; maybe there is something more to it.
To have 500 times more absorption would mean the existing solar cells are less than 1/5 of one percent efficient.
Far from true.
although i kinda wish he would go into medicine or engineering rather than renewable energy. but i guess in todays world, that's the way to go.
More confusing, in my opinion.William invented a novel solar panel that enables light absorption from visible to
ultraviolet light. He designed carbon nanotubes to overcome the barriers of electron
movement, doubling the light-electricity conversion efficiency. William also developed a
model for solar towers and a computer program to simulate and optimize the tower
parameters. His optimized design provides 500 times more light absorption than
commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than the cutting-edge, threedimensional
solar cell.
LOL
I think summer ended yesterday.....it sure was nice while it lasted...
I know nothing of this young man’s research, however there is no doubt that viable solar is the end game for energy long term. It will take harnessing just 1/10000th of the energy the sun delivers to the earth to provide for the global energy needs for the foreseeable future.
When we manage to finally have a viable solar cell for conversion and viable storage of it for those times when the sun isn’t shining, to achieve this, that is the day that fossile fuels will be relegated to fringe and nitch energy sources.
You've been a bad boy.
“Another “Government School” doofus so roundly condemned by some around here.”
Do you really want to credit public education with this childs genius? Then you must accept responsiblity for the rest of the failures of the same system; something which the educators have been able to avoid at all costs.
“Yep! At 12 I was more interested in which type of playing card would make the most noise on the spokes of my bike!”
At 12 I was more interested in hot rods and drove my first rail @ Santa Ana and went 124mph which really wasn’t all that slow in 1949.
I know nothing of this young man’s research, however there is no doubt that viable solar is the end game for energy long term. It will take harnessing just 1/10000th of the energy the sun delivers to the earth to provide for the global energy needs for the foreseeable future.
When we manage to finally have a viable solar cell for conversion and viable storage of it for those times when the sun isn’t shining, to achieve this, that is the day that fossile fuels will be relegated to fringe and nitch energy sources.
I live in Michigan and that is an understatement.
No, the American Taxpayer got smacked! Proof once again that the government could fund anything and all they ever have to show from it is a steaming pile of dog sh!t...that cost them 100's of millions of dollars!
“...maybe the cells are capturing light that has been scattered...”
I get the impression that it’s reflected light. Think for a second - years ago when houses were lit by candles, they used to put a mirror behind them to double the light (you see two candles - without the mirror, what hit the wall was essentially wasted).
Similarly - if you make the cells “3D”, so that light reflected from one cell’s surface hits another cell, you’ve captured some of the wasted sunlight. Taking that to the extreme - if you can see the cell, the light coming into your eyes is wasted energy! So bounce the light as many times as you can, and collect the photons...
that is what you were talking about with the 20% if i am correct. so double that to 40%.
"His optimized design provides 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than the cutting-edge, threedimensional solar cell."
the 500 times and 9 times seems to be in regards to light absorbtion. as in the amount of light the collector can actually catch, not how much it can then convert to electricity. that is how i am reading this.
From what I can tell, he doesn’t have a working model, just theory
Well, then, that certainly explains the mysterious splotches on my car’s paint job...
Just as the NEA and media have it all planned out.
If he copied, or stole, (or “Biden-ed”) the idea, then the prize money committee should take some of the, uh, heat too.
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