"The breakthrough is adding a layer of perovskite, another semiconductor, on top of the silicon layer. This captures blue light from the visible spectrum, while the silicon captures red light, boosting the total light captured overall. With more energy absorbed per cell, the cost of solar electricity is even cheaper, and deployment can proceed faster to help keep global heating under control."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold

On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 10:34:22 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:15 PM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > "The breakthrough is adding a layer of perovskite, another semiconductor, on top of the silicon layer. This captures blue light from the visible spectrum, while the silicon captures red light, boosting the total light captured overall. With more energy absorbed per cell, the cost of solar electricity is even cheaper, and deployment can proceed faster to help keep global heating under control."
> >
> > https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold
> People have been making compound solar cells for year, They cost more than simpler cells, and only get used when you have to pay a lot for the area you cover with them. Some of them work at high light intensities, and can be used with concentrating mirrors, but it is a niche market.

They state as much in the article.

The good news is that a lot of solar that is unsuited for lesser efficiency technology, now becomes suitable with the new technology.

>
> Guardian science journalism isn't great - their "science" correspondents moistly don't know much about science and are suckers for gushing press releases.

Most of it is good. We live in an imperfect world so that's the best that can be expected.

>
> --
> Bil Sloman, Sydney

On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:33 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> On Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 12:47:21 AM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 10:34:22 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> > > On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:15 PM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > > > "The breakthrough is adding a layer of perovskite, another semiconductor, on top of the silicon layer. This captures blue light from the visible spectrum, while the silicon captures red light, boosting the total light captured overall. With more energy absorbed per cell, the cost of solar electricity is even cheaper, and deployment can proceed faster to help keep global heating under control."
> > > >
> > > > https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold
>
> > > People have been making compound solar cells for year, They cost more than simpler cells, and only get used when you have to pay a lot for the area you cover with them. Some of them work at high light intensities, and can be used with concentrating mirrors, but it is a niche market.
> >
> > They state as much in the article.
> "There are other technologies, such as multi-junction cells, which can have efficiencies as high as 47%, but these are very expensive to produce and would only be suitable for niche uses such as on space satellites or when sunlight is highly concentrated on to the cells."
>
> Putting on a layer of perovskite above a layer of silicon is making a multi-junction cell. A science journalist worthy of the name would have realised this.
> > The good news is that a lot of solar that is unsuited for lesser efficiency technology, now becomes suitable with the new technology.
> Oh, really? Pull the other leg.

USDoE performed a study some time ago- like 2010 IIRC- that surveyed the suitability of solar for every single roof in the US, all based on extensive satellite data, as well as detailed estimates of insolation ( geographic and meteorological) , orientation of roof slope, neighboring interference such as manmade shading from adjacent structures- it was very, very detailed IOW. The main conclusion was that only 10% of the roofs were suitable for solar installation as the technology existed at the time. Doubling the energy production per unit area should make many more suitable.

> > > Guardian science journalism isn't great - their "science" correspondents moistly don't know much about science and are suckers for gushing press releases.
> >
> > Most of it is good. We live in an imperfect world so that's the best that can be expected.
> Read the Volkskrant. I had to learn Dutch to do it, but Google translate now works pretty well. New Scientist is pretty good too. Most English language science journalism is regrettably imperfect.
>
> --
> Bil Sloman, Sydney

On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 10:47:21 AM UTC-4, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 10:34:22 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> > On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:15 PM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > > "The breakthrough is adding a layer of perovskite, another semiconductor, on top of the silicon layer. This captures blue light from the visible spectrum, while the silicon captures red light, boosting the total light captured overall. With more energy absorbed per cell, the cost of solar electricity is even cheaper, and deployment can proceed faster to help keep global heating under control."
> > >
> > > https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold
> > People have been making compound solar cells for year, They cost more than simpler cells, and only get used when you have to pay a lot for the area you cover with them. Some of them work at high light intensities, and can be used with concentrating mirrors, but it is a niche market.
> They state as much in the article.
>
> The good news is that a lot of solar that is unsuited for lesser efficiency technology, now becomes suitable with the new technology.

That's not a universally true statement. It's only true if, as Bill says, "when you have to pay a lot for the area you cover with them". If the problem is the high cost of solar cells in general, these higher efficiency cells are actually worse, since there cost disadvantage is greater than the efficiency advantage.

> > Guardian science journalism isn't great - their "science" correspondents moistly don't know much about science and are suckers for gushing press releases.
> Most of it is good. We live in an imperfect world so that's the best that can be expected.

LOL That's like saying, I drive a '63 Beetle, because "it's an imperfect world", or that Blogg's posts suck, but "it's an imperfect world".

--

Rick C.

- Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 12:23:18 PM UTC-4, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:33 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> > On Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 12:47:21 AM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > > On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 10:34:22 AM UTC-4, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
> > > > On Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:18:15 PM UTC+10, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> > > > > "The breakthrough is adding a layer of perovskite, another semiconductor, on top of the silicon layer. This captures blue light from the visible spectrum, while the silicon captures red light, boosting the total light captured overall. With more energy absorbed per cell, the cost of solar electricity is even cheaper, and deployment can proceed faster to help keep global heating under control."
> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold
> >
> > > > People have been making compound solar cells for year, They cost more than simpler cells, and only get used when you have to pay a lot for the area you cover with them. Some of them work at high light intensities, and can be used with concentrating mirrors, but it is a niche market.
> > >
> > > They state as much in the article.
> > "There are other technologies, such as multi-junction cells, which can have efficiencies as high as 47%, but these are very expensive to produce and would only be suitable for niche uses such as on space satellites or when sunlight is highly concentrated on to the cells."
> >
> > Putting on a layer of perovskite above a layer of silicon is making a multi-junction cell. A science journalist worthy of the name would have realised this.
> > > The good news is that a lot of solar that is unsuited for lesser efficiency technology, now becomes suitable with the new technology.
> > Oh, really? Pull the other leg.
> USDoE performed a study some time ago- like 2010 IIRC- that surveyed the suitability of solar for every single roof in the US, all based on extensive satellite data, as well as detailed estimates of insolation ( geographic and meteorological) , orientation of roof slope, neighboring interference such as manmade shading from adjacent structures- it was very, very detailed IOW. The main conclusion was that only 10% of the roofs were suitable for solar installation as the technology existed at the time. Doubling the energy production per unit area should make many more suitable.

"Suitability" is an economic issue. Unless you have data on the cost of both systems, in effect, the life cycle costs, you are making a statement without evidence to support it. Efficiency is not the only contributor to life cycle cost.

--

Rick C.

+ Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
+ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209