SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Solar goes Hyper in the U.S.
HyperSolar magnifying film can increase solar panel efficiency by up to 300%, making solar competitive with fossil fuels.
Wed, Feb 09 2011 at 3:08 PM
Related Topics:
Image courtesy of HyperSolar
As the U.S. government continues to heap billions in subsidies to the world's wealthiest coal and oil companies, the solar industry has been struggling to make it in the United States. This is sad for many reasons, not the least of which is that we're missing out on one of the biggest growth industries in the world.
Currently there are 16 gigawatts of installed solar power globally. That number will grow to about 1,800 gigawatts in the next 20 years, making it one of the best job creators. U.S. engineers invented the solar panel, and the U.S. should be dominating that market. Instead, foreign manufacturers (particularly in China) have taken our IP and run with it, as we become increasingly dependent on foreign oil and dirty coal operations to meet our power needs.
Fortunately HyperSolar, a new U.S. company, offers a ray of sunny hope on the clean energy frontier.
The company does not manufacture solar panels. It makes them ultra-efficient using a field of science called photonics. Similar to a microchip that moves individual bits of data around at hyperspeed, HyperSolar's thin magnifying film routes and separates specific light spectrums, delivering them exactly where they're needed to make an array of PV solar cells ultra-efficient.
I saw an early prototype for such a magnifying optical layer a few years back, but the company was "dark" at the time, so I couldn't write about the innovation. But I'm as excited now as I was then for good reason — HyperSolar's optical layer can increase PV efficiency by up to 300 percent!
Theoretically that means cutting the installation cost of a solar array in half. Instead of a home solar system costing $30,000 (or more) it would only cost $15,000 (or less), making the upfront investment much lower and payback periods much quicker.
This is a great example of a disruptive technology that could get us to the holy grail of "grid parity" — meaning that solar would be as affordable as other sources of energy like coal and natural gas. And no more polluting coal mines or fracking for natural gas! The sun (for at least the next 5 billion years) will provide free and abundant energy. It's up to us whether we want to invest in that technology or continue to destroy our beautiful landscapes for a few more years of "cheap" (i.e. heavily subsidized) coal.
Innovations like this make several recent reports ring true. If we have the political will to overcome the stranglehold of the fossil fuel industry on our nation's energy policy, we could become 100 percent renewably powered in a 2030-2050 time frame. Check out these two reports and a new study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) about how large-scale wind power is now cost-competitive with natural gas:
- Physorg.com: 100 percent renewables by 2030
- WWF: 100 percent renewables (no nuclear) by 2050
- AWEA: Wind cost-competitive with gas
So, what do you think? Can we kick the fossil fuel habit?
Also on MNN:
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- Indian man single-handedly plants a 1,360-acre forest
- 20 ways to reuse coffee grounds, tea leaves
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- 12 best new features of the Samsung Galaxy S4
- Stone Age people may have battled against a zombie apocalypse
- Jon Stewart explains the ‘Monsanto Protection Act’
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
Ba-hahaha!!!
I can't possibly imagine the Earth being covered with so many solar arrays that it would comprise enough shade that it results in permafrost. Also, increasing the efficiency of the solar cells does not change the amount of the sun's energy that falls on the ground vs the solar panels. It just that the solar panels are able to USE more of the energy that falls on them.
Tongue-in-cheek comment: Maybe a little bit of global cooling with counteract the supposed global warming??
I could be wrong on this, so bear with me... but I'm pretty sure my electricity is not generated by gasoline. So everyone keeps complaining about our dependence on foreign oil... so how is replacing coal/ nuclear power with solar-power going to reduce how much gasoline we use?
Electric cars?
If we use a permanent renewable clean source of energy in this country; we reduce our need for non-permanent dirty source of energy from some place else. We have the means to change over our cars, homes, and businesses. It's just be so profitable and inexpensive that no one who has been making a fortune on the old dangerous sources; that they don't want us to become independent and give up their profits. There's no reselling the sun or the wind.
Show me a seller that makes a 200W panel at an affordable price for mainstream homeowners. Something like $1000 a panel would be affordable. Were a long way from that yet and maybe it will never happen.
Under 1000.00.
Next
get a life, Comment on ways to help not to put things down.
Solar cell panel prices will come down faster than the price for LCD TVs did, if and only there is an end to the bias to produce "cheap" continuous pollution producing energy.
Because 200w panels are ~ $450.
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS392US392&sourceid=chrome&ie...
Because 200w panels are ~ $450.
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS392US392&sourceid=chrome&ie...
Show me a seller that makes a 200W panel at an affordable price for mainstream homeowners. Something like $1000 a panel would be affordable. Were a long way from that yet and maybe it will never happen.
George - don't forget to ask your solar certified electrician to give you a little solar energy you can use in case of an emergency. Some people have the whole house grid solar but can't use a bit when the power goes out! (How is that for ironic?)
Good luck - Segue to Solar
The cost of solar is much lower than before. We sell 200 Watt solar panels for $450-500 per panel. Much lower than the guy that said $1000 per panel would be good.
Those are all well known technologies. This is not the only company doing this kind of thing, nor did they discover any of it. The problem with all of that stuff is the cost. Solar isn't about power efficiency, it's about cost efficiency.
Got a nice lil uranium based heater pumping out 1.21 Giga watts in my back yard. Managed to keep the whole neighborhood powered when their power went out this past snow storm. Seems there is a better way than making toxic solar panels that actually use more energy and create more toxic waste than a coal fired plant.
Well, your comment is fine, with one big flaw. If you have this in your back yard, and you have now posted it online, how long do you think it will take before you are shut down ?????
You have purified uranium in your back yard? I assume it is a cold fusion reactor? Bravo to you Sir! Please continue to hide your genius behind a mask of insanity!
yadda yadda yadda. Every couple of years we get these type of stories about solar energy and they are always a scam or simply not true. Have yet to determine which category this story falls into.
Yeah, and this whole idea that someone could invent a bulb that puts out light when you apply electricity to it is either a scam or simply untrue too. No WAY that technology will ever be viable for the average American home... oh... wait...
Your spectacular lack of foresight doesn't mean that solar technology won't become viable, it just means that you will be a sheepish late adopter at best.
Many are phoney contractors check with the Better Business. Investigate, many people have benn ripped off in NJ. They use a pyramid scheme whereby they install a few panels then wait for another sucker to buy in. I had one hell of a job getting my money back and never sign a contract that is not valid in NJ or in your state.
It's been well-documented that the BBB is a scam. They require money for ratings and do little to no research on the companies. No payment, F rating.
Pages