I wrote my highest viewed post a year ago. Here it is if you missed it. Look how helpful I am!
That post was a discussion of the potential of solar power. We've made significant strides since then. Solar is now the fastest growing renewable energy production method in the world. Ignoring President Trump's public statements, solar has generated over 50,000 jobs in the US, Elon Musk - founder & CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is investing a ton in solar with his Solar Roof initiative and PowerWall tech, and China is increasing their solar energy generation capacity by a great deal and abandoning coal (*cough* take notes, USA *cough*). That's pretty exciting if you ask me.
In the post on solar from last year, I mentioned only one type of solar tech - where the solar panel acts as a concentrator of light to generate steam. Due to improvements in material science and electronics, there is another type of solar technology which is driving this upbringing of large-scale solar adoption. The photovoltaic cell.
Sounds a little intimidating, but don't fret. Most people see one every day!
Small photovoltaics have been used in day to day items like digital watches and calculators for years. Bell labs made the first photovoltaic in the '60s. They use semi-conducting materials, like the ones used in your smartphone or computer, to directly convert light to energy. It's a far simpler solution than generating steam and transporting that steam to a turbine, but can be less effective large scale. But that is mainly due to the type of conductive materials being used.
The bright side.....
Get it? Solar panels... bright side... I'm hilarious.
The bright side is advancements in material science are giving light (Ha did it again) to far superior semi and super-conducting materials. Graphene is a buzzworthy word right now, and rightfully so.
Graphene is simply carbon atoms that are arranged in a 2-dimensional, hexagonally-bonded sheet. The "sheet" of graphene is 1 atom thick. Hard to imagine, right? But that single atom thick sheet is incredibly strong and conductive. But in the application of energy production, the conductive properties are what are desirable.
Fun fact, if you take a regular pencil and scotch tape, and repeatedly apply and rip the tape off the pencil's tip enough times, you'll end up with graphene!
New methods for making graphene are being discovered all the time, each one cheaper and more efficient than the last. This will bring forth a revolution in semiconductors, superconductors, high strength, lightweight materials and, well the list goes on and on. I'm getting off track.
So this graphene will eventually replace the conductive materials in current photovoltaic cells and significantly increase the conversion of light to energy, dropping costs and increasing adoption. The future of electronics is around the corner, and graphene will take us there.
If you've been inspired to look a little more into graphene, here is a wiki link for it.
Thanks for taking the time to read my procrastination attempt!
Until next time,
J
That post was a discussion of the potential of solar power. We've made significant strides since then. Solar is now the fastest growing renewable energy production method in the world. Ignoring President Trump's public statements, solar has generated over 50,000 jobs in the US, Elon Musk - founder & CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is investing a ton in solar with his Solar Roof initiative and PowerWall tech, and China is increasing their solar energy generation capacity by a great deal and abandoning coal (*cough* take notes, USA *cough*). That's pretty exciting if you ask me.
In the post on solar from last year, I mentioned only one type of solar tech - where the solar panel acts as a concentrator of light to generate steam. Due to improvements in material science and electronics, there is another type of solar technology which is driving this upbringing of large-scale solar adoption. The photovoltaic cell.
Sounds a little intimidating, but don't fret. Most people see one every day!
Small photovoltaics have been used in day to day items like digital watches and calculators for years. Bell labs made the first photovoltaic in the '60s. They use semi-conducting materials, like the ones used in your smartphone or computer, to directly convert light to energy. It's a far simpler solution than generating steam and transporting that steam to a turbine, but can be less effective large scale. But that is mainly due to the type of conductive materials being used.
The bright side.....
Get it? Solar panels... bright side... I'm hilarious.
The bright side is advancements in material science are giving light (Ha did it again) to far superior semi and super-conducting materials. Graphene is a buzzworthy word right now, and rightfully so.
Graphene is simply carbon atoms that are arranged in a 2-dimensional, hexagonally-bonded sheet. The "sheet" of graphene is 1 atom thick. Hard to imagine, right? But that single atom thick sheet is incredibly strong and conductive. But in the application of energy production, the conductive properties are what are desirable.
Fun fact, if you take a regular pencil and scotch tape, and repeatedly apply and rip the tape off the pencil's tip enough times, you'll end up with graphene!
New methods for making graphene are being discovered all the time, each one cheaper and more efficient than the last. This will bring forth a revolution in semiconductors, superconductors, high strength, lightweight materials and, well the list goes on and on. I'm getting off track.
So this graphene will eventually replace the conductive materials in current photovoltaic cells and significantly increase the conversion of light to energy, dropping costs and increasing adoption. The future of electronics is around the corner, and graphene will take us there.
If you've been inspired to look a little more into graphene, here is a wiki link for it.
Thanks for taking the time to read my procrastination attempt!
Until next time,
J
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