1. Welcome Hearth.com Guests and Visitors - Please enjoy our forums!
    Hearth.com GOLD Sponsors who help bring the site content to you:
    Jotul Cast Iron Stoves
    Woodstock Soapstone Stoves
    Hearth and Home (QuadraFire and Harman Stoves)

A synthetic leaf could lead to solar storage

Post in 'The Green Room' started by begreen, Mar 29, 2011.

  1. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,457 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Interesting stuff coming out of the Nocera Lab at MIT. It's early, but is showing some nice potential already. Tie this together with a fuel cell and you have the potential for 24/7 electricity.

    http://www.technewsworld.com/story/72156.html
    begreen, Mar 29, 2011
    #1

    Helpful Sponsor Ads!

  2. webbie Administrator

    joined: Nov 17, 2005
    11,047 posts
    Western Mass.
    Amazing...truly!
    Energy is out there.

    Someday mankind will look back and laugh at what people did to keep the fires burning (so to speak).
    webbie, Mar 29, 2011
    #2

  3. semipro Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 12, 2009
    1,751 posts
    SW Virginia
    I hope this is legit!

    Yeah, we'll look back and say "I can't believe we used to burn that!"

    As much as I love burning wood I'd gladly give it up.
    semipro, Mar 29, 2011
    #3

  4. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,457 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    begreen, Mar 29, 2011
    #4

  5. Adios Pantalones Minister of Fire

    joined: May 20, 2008
    5,657 posts
    S.NH- Mass's smoking section
    Awesome. Storage is one of the obvious issues. I loved that they quoted Sabbath: "Soon the World Will Love You, Sweet Leaf "

    Our main campus also has a couple of other solar advances that I want to see commercialized. Anti-glare technology, and a method to collect photons at the edge of the panel- efficiency would be increased by reducing scattering/reflection losses- supposedly doubling efficiency.
    Adios Pantalones, Mar 29, 2011
    #5

  6. begreen Super Moderator

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    36,457 posts
    South Puget Sound, WA
    I read about the edge collection technology last year. Has anything come of this?
    begreen, Mar 29, 2011
    #6

  7. Adios Pantalones Minister of Fire

    joined: May 20, 2008
    5,657 posts
    S.NH- Mass's smoking section
    I think it will take a couple/few years to develop the production process. Plus- there's licensing issues, IP, etc to deal with.

    I dunno, but I hope it's real. A couple innovations like these and solar could be real (makes economic sense without subsidy) in a few years.
    Adios Pantalones, Mar 29, 2011
    #7

  8. ihookem Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 25, 2009
    508 posts
    Allenton, Wisconsin
    At 76% efficiency is unreal, but how much is 10 mili amps? A sq. centimeter is 10 miliamps. How big would the leaf have to be to power a home of 1000 watts?
    ihookem, Mar 31, 2011
    #8

Share This Page