Eco Factor: Nanotube antenna can capture and focus light energy, allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays.
I don’t double the efficiency of the present photovoltaic cells, but I wish there was a lighter, smaller and convenient alternative. If one wishes to go completely off-grid, he has to cover almost the entire rooftop with solar modules. Not only are they hefty, but also difficult to install and maintain. MIT chemical engineers are here with a solution. They have come up with a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a usual PV cell.
The MIT research team led by Michael Strano has developed a nanotube antenna that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays. The new antenna consists of a fibrous rope about 10 micrometers long and four micrometers thick, containing about 30 million carbon nanotubes. It will be constructed around a core of semiconducting material so that it is easier to concentrate photons before the photovoltaic cell converts them to an electrical current.
The researchers claim that presently the nanotube bundles lose about 13 percent of the energy they absorb, but the team is working on new antennas that would lose only one percent. The nanotube antenna that is capable of boosting the number of photons that can be captured and transforms the light into energy that can be funneled into a solar cell would lead us to smaller and more efficient solar cells.
Via: Gizmag
