I've always been interested in renewable energy and its efficiency. Knowing its potential to change the world and help the environment definitely excites me. In elementary school and in middle school, I looked at optimizing the efficiency of certain renewable energies like solar, bio fuels, and wind. But what I did in my own house as a teenager hardly compares to what MIT has recently created.
MIT News recently released an article showing how a solar cell that uses both quantum dots and nano wires works much more efficiently than a solar cell that purely uses quantum dots. Quantum dots are tiny semiconductors that have, over the past couple of years, have been discovered to increase the efficiency of traditional photovoltaic cells. In addition to increasing efficiency, quantum dots do have other several advantages. They can be manufactured at room temperature which saves energy and reduces all complications associated with the high-temperature processing of silicon. Also, they can be produced much quicker and much more inexpensively than silicon.
However, at the same time, these quantum dot solar cells are still not the most efficient option in generating electricity because of an interesting inconsistency associated with photovoltaic cells. A solar cell's layer needs to be thin to allow the charges to pass easily from the surface of the cell to the wires that carry the current, but also thick enough to absorb incoming light efficiently. Joel Jean, a student at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) says that improved performance in one of these areas tends to worsen the other.
This is where MIT makes a pretty big step in advancing solar energy. They have created nano wires made of zinc oxide that are extremely effective in conducting energy but also long enough to the point where light absorption is no longer a significant concern. The research team discovered that their newly created design increased the electricity generated by the solar cell by 50 percent and increased the overall efficiency by about 35 percent.
There has already been a very positive reaction to MIT's revolutionary creation. Mark Thompson, a professor of chemistry at USC compliments the research by saying that was a "real advance" and that it may be "only the beginning, and as they continue to improve their process, we will see even higher efficiencies."
In comparison to other types of renewable energy like wind or hydroelectric, solar energy has always been considered one of the least practical options, as it is a very expensive type of energy and doesn't always yield the highest results. The recent design by MIT may only be in the early stages, but it does show that we have not yet realized the full potential of solar energy. We can still discover new advances and new technologies to make this specific type of energy better. I've always had a passion for renewable energy, specifically solar energy, and this discovery only gives me more hope that in the near future, we will be able to completely replace all harmful, non-renewable sources of energy like coal and petroleum with clean energy.
The full MIT Press article can be accessed here: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/nanowires-quantum-dots-solar-cell-0325.html
MIT News recently released an article showing how a solar cell that uses both quantum dots and nano wires works much more efficiently than a solar cell that purely uses quantum dots. Quantum dots are tiny semiconductors that have, over the past couple of years, have been discovered to increase the efficiency of traditional photovoltaic cells. In addition to increasing efficiency, quantum dots do have other several advantages. They can be manufactured at room temperature which saves energy and reduces all complications associated with the high-temperature processing of silicon. Also, they can be produced much quicker and much more inexpensively than silicon.
However, at the same time, these quantum dot solar cells are still not the most efficient option in generating electricity because of an interesting inconsistency associated with photovoltaic cells. A solar cell's layer needs to be thin to allow the charges to pass easily from the surface of the cell to the wires that carry the current, but also thick enough to absorb incoming light efficiently. Joel Jean, a student at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) says that improved performance in one of these areas tends to worsen the other.
This is where MIT makes a pretty big step in advancing solar energy. They have created nano wires made of zinc oxide that are extremely effective in conducting energy but also long enough to the point where light absorption is no longer a significant concern. The research team discovered that their newly created design increased the electricity generated by the solar cell by 50 percent and increased the overall efficiency by about 35 percent.
There has already been a very positive reaction to MIT's revolutionary creation. Mark Thompson, a professor of chemistry at USC compliments the research by saying that was a "real advance" and that it may be "only the beginning, and as they continue to improve their process, we will see even higher efficiencies."
In comparison to other types of renewable energy like wind or hydroelectric, solar energy has always been considered one of the least practical options, as it is a very expensive type of energy and doesn't always yield the highest results. The recent design by MIT may only be in the early stages, but it does show that we have not yet realized the full potential of solar energy. We can still discover new advances and new technologies to make this specific type of energy better. I've always had a passion for renewable energy, specifically solar energy, and this discovery only gives me more hope that in the near future, we will be able to completely replace all harmful, non-renewable sources of energy like coal and petroleum with clean energy.
The full MIT Press article can be accessed here: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/nanowires-quantum-dots-solar-cell-0325.html
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