Interesting last 8 hours or so: Up late debating EV startups with ex-GM execs. 3 hrs sleep. Flat tire on the way to San Jose. #plugin2010 ~ stevepuma

Gizmodo: Scientists Invent Tech for Cost-Effective Solar Power from Windows

Posted: July 11th, 2008 | Author: Steve | Filed under: Sustainability | Tags: , , , , | View Comments

One of the big problems with solar power is bringing the cost down so that it is competitive with fossil fuels. This post fro Gizmodo describes a new technology which would probably make solar technology much cheaper:

“Solar power is everywhere at the mo, maybe because it sounds more sci-fi than wind: which is the case with this new technology that turns windows into power sources. Clever bods at MIT have worked out how to use organic dye solar-concentrator coatings to collect light over a whole sheet of glass and “concentrate” it at the edges. This lets you have a much smaller (and hence cheaper) solar-electric cell mounted in the side of a window, more easily achieved than typical mirror-based concentrators. And by tuning the dyes (originally designed for lasers and OLEDs) to different wavelengths, and stacking them up, you get an even bigger power output. Clever stuff. [Physorg]“

Solar Power: Scientists Invent Tech for Cost-Effective Solar Power from Windows


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