Ultra-thin Solar cells for nanogadgets
Just when we thought they had developed the world’s smallest solar cell, scientists show that it can be even smaller. The latest solar cell was developed by a team of chemists at Harvard University. The team leader Charles Hare says that this cell will provide solar energy for nanogadgets because it is 98 times smaller than a hair.
The mini cables silicon light converted into electricity, producing the equivalent of 200 picowatts. The light produces electrons captured on the outside of the cables, transmitted to the nucleus where they produce electric shocks. Although only two picowatt a billionth of a watt, Hare says that in a nano scale, it is enough energy to power appliances that will be within our body, such as GPS.
Currently, these micro solar cells have an efficiency of between 3.5 and 5%; depending on the intensity of light they receive (nothing impressive at the moment). The next step is to find ways of making cells more efficient, once you reach 15% is expected to be ready for use in practical things.
As always we find projects in their early stages of development, but we are sure that in a few years we will be talking about these cells applied in our daily lives.
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Tags: solar cells, Solar Energy
It is great to see this technology advance at such a rapid pace. We need to utilize every method to advance alternative energy sources. The high cost of fuel this past year did serious damage to our economy and society. After a brief reprieve gas prices are inching back up again. Our nation should not allow other nations to have such power over us and our economy . We have so much available to us in the way of technology and free sources of energy. WE seriously need to get on with becoming an energy independent nation. We are spending billions upon billions in bail out dollars. Why not spend some of those billions in getting alternative energy projects set up. We could create clean cheap energy, millions of badly needed new green jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil all in one fell swoop. I just read an eye opening book by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to drive and charge an electric car.If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV’s instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Why don’t we use some of the billions in bail out money to bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil? This past year the high cost of fuel so seriously damaged our economy and society that the ripple effects will be felt for years to come. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com