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A nice TED talk by Frank van Mierlo of 1366 Technologies explaining the physics (in simple terms) behind a new generation of solar cells, called tandem solar cells. Tandem cells should capture about 50% more of the incident solar energy (producing efficiencies of 30%+ instead of the 20% they are presently limited to), and should be arriving on the market in the next couple of years. This will significantly improve the attractiveness of solar energy installations.
An inexpensive tandem solar cell using a perovskite top layer and a silicon sublayer was recently shown to provide nearly 30% efficiency. This is about a 50% improvement over current single layer silicon devices. https://scitechdaily.com/world-recor...30-efficiency/
Now all we need is a way to keep the snow from sticking.
Angle the panels so that they face southwards in the northern hemisphere (or northwards in the southern hemisphere). The sun will melt the snow pretty fast if the angle is optimized. Bonus points if you tilt them more during winter months (though this requires adjusting them twice a year).
Doesn't matter how good they might allegedly be.... I could never afford one. I'm look for realistic and practical options.
Not sure what you mean by that - there are already hundreds of gigawatts of solar panels producing now, and it's rapidly expanding. And, this new technology of tandem cells will be lowering the cost per kilowatt-hour of solar electricity produced, so this is next-generation technology that will lower costs.
Not sure what you mean by that - there are already hundreds of gigawatts of solar panels producing now, and it's rapidly expanding. And, this new technology of tandem cells will be lowering the cost per kilowatt-hour of solar electricity produced, so this is next-generation technology that will lower costs.
Reminds me of buying a computer. I had so many clients put it off because "Next month it will be cheaper". And with that attitude they'll be running MS-DOS for the rest of their life. You've got it figured out. So many don't.
Angle the panels so that they face southwards in the northern hemisphere (or northwards in the southern hemisphere). The sun will melt the snow pretty fast if the angle is optimized. Bonus points if you tilt them more during winter months (though this requires adjusting them twice a year).
All depends on how cold cold is. In some places the snow does not melt before April.
Reminds me of buying a computer. I had so many clients put it off because "Next month it will be cheaper". And with that attitude they'll be running MS-DOS for the rest of their life. You've got it figured out. So many don't.
That reminds me on the old saying that, "computers will reduce the amount of printing."!
Oh!..I forgot about the flying cars we should own by now.
Another one: do you remember all the little "green signs" being posted on toilet and paper towel dispensers that read, "Don't waste paper. Save a tree"? Then COVID-19 hits us, and everyone rushes to the store to buy toilet and paper towel. Nobody is talking against cutting trees these days.
That reminds me on the old saying that, "computers will reduce the amount of printing."!
I worked in an IT office for many years. Originally it seemed like the amount of printing would stay about the same, but little by little it declined to the point where we almost never printed anything. Desks started to shrink because there just wasn't a need to store paper any more. Everything gets stored on disk nowadays, and even that is migrating over to the cloud. It took a few decades, but the amount of printing has massively decreased. I suppose there are a few anachronistic sites that still cling to paper bureaucracy.
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That reminds me on the old saying that, "computers will reduce the amount of printing."!
