IBM's "liquid metal" promises concentrated PV breakthrough.

[Dover]

IBM's "liquid metal" promises concentrated PV breakthrough

Computer chip cooling technology could allow solar cells to operate at temperatures of over 1,600 degrees Celsius, drastically improving efficiency and cutting costs

James Murray, BusinessGreen, 15 May 2008


For years, the solar energy industry has debated the relative merits of concentrated solar thermal and photovoltaic cell technologies, but now IT giant IBM reckons it has found a highly efficient means of combining the two technologies, which it claims could slash the cost of solar farms.

The company will today demonstrate a new concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) system that uses a large lens to concentrate a record 230 watts of solar power onto a single centimetre square solar square. The highly concentrated energy is then converted into 70 watts of usable electric power, an output IBM claims represents about five times the electrical power density generated by current CPV systems.

CPV systems have been around in some form for decades, but the technology's potential as an energy source has been hampered by the fact that concentrating solar power to generate temperatures high enough to deliver significant power outputs can damage, and even melt the PV cells...>

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2216678/ibm-liquid-metal-promises

[TheWraith]

1. Joining the hundreds of other promised PV breakthroughs of the last several decades.

None of which have panned out.

[Finishline42]

3. Little bit of difference between IBM and Joe's Invent a Patent shop

Little bit of difference between IBM and Joe's Invent a Patent shop, don't you think?

IBM doesn't just jump up and down without a lot of work to make sure of their claims.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a big supporter of IBM - remember when they tried to do to the PC market what Apple did by making everything proprietary.

Must be patents out the wazoo on this. It could be a good combo of capital and large scale mfg experience.

[TheWraith]

6. Laboratory research means little if it can't be produced in the real world.

The assumption that anything worth filing a patent on--which today means almost anything--is going to revolutionize technology doesn't pass the most basic tests of history.

And there have been lots of "breakthroughs" from companies just as big as IBM.

[Greyskye]

4. Which automatically means that this one is crap as well.

That's what you're saying, right?

You must be a lot of fun to hang around with. :eyes:

[hatrack]

2. As long as they don't combine it with experimental AI technologies . . .

[Finishline42]

5. Important info from the article - "Additional Challenges"

"IBM admitted that undisclosed "additional challenges" would still have to be overcome to move the project from a laboratory environment into production. However, it claimed that "provided the temperature of the cells can be kept low and cheap, and efficient optics can be developed for concentrating the light to very high levels" then the technology has the potential to "offer the lowest-cost solar electricity for large-scale power generation".

Here's the importance of their discovery:

For example, the company calculates that while current CPV systems can concentrate the sun's power up to a level equivalent to the solar power of 200 suns at noon on a clear day, delivering approximately 20 watts per square centimetre, the new cells could cope with the concentrated power of 2,000 suns, resulting in 200 watts per square centimetre. IBM claims such performance would allow solar farm operators to cut the number of PV cells and other components by a factor of 10, slashing costs while still delivering the same power output."

[madokie]

7. looks like that could be used to store heat on a house by house bases

using concentrators to capture the heat from the sun and and use the liquid metal technology to store it. Be able to store much more energy in a smaller space, which is a problem now with using that idea

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. More Information

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/24203.wss

BM Research Unveils Breakthrough In Solar Farm Technology

“Liquid Metal” at the Center of IBM Innovation to Significantly Reduce Cost of Concentrator Photovoltaic Cells

---

ARMONK, NY - 15 May 2008: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a research breakthrough in photovoltaics technology that could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the Sun's power for electricity.

By mimicking the antics of a child using a magnifying glass to burn a leaf or a camper to start a fire, IBM scientists are using a large lens to concentrate the Sun’s power, capturing a record 230 watts onto a centimeter square solar cell, in a technology known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV. That energy is then converted into 70 watts of usable electrical power, about five times the electrical power density generated by typical cells using CPV technology in solar farms.

IBM researchers have achieved a breakthrough in photovoltaics technology that could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the Sun's power for electricity.

...

“We believe IBM can bring unique skills from our vast experience in semiconductors and nanotechnology to the important field of alternative energy research,” said Dr. Supratik Guha, the scientist leading photovoltaics activities at IBM Research. “This is one of many exploratory research projects incubating in our labs where we can drive big change for an entire industry while advancing the basic underlying science of solar cell technology."

The trick lies in IBM’s ability to cool the tiny solar cell. Concentrating the equivalent of 2000 suns on such a small area generates enough heat to melt stainless steel, something the researchers experienced first hand in their experiments. But by borrowing innovations from its own R&D in cooling computer chips, the team was able to cool the solar cell from greater than 1600 degrees Celsius to just 85 degrees Celsius.

...

[tanstaafl]

9. Assuming they could get this to work ...

If they could get this to work in the real world, then can you imagine what it would be like. The high end solar panels I have seen are around 200W. Assuming you could increase the output by a factor of 10 - 20 by using concentration technology, then you could get 2000W from a single panel with current efficiency.

Now that would be cool!