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Lightcell: An engine that uses light to make electricity

(www.lightcellenergy.com)
113 points curl-up | 5 comments | 14 Jan 25 13:36 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jandrese ◴[17 Jan 25 19:27 UTC] No.42742255[source]▶
Bottom line: 40% efficiency, which is better than I expected but the competition is batteries at 80+% efficiency. It's a hard sell, especially as continual improvements in battery storage will continue to eat away at their niche.

5,000 W/kg sounds great on paper compared to 150 W/kg for batteries and is even in the same ballpark as gasoline at 12,000 W/kg, but I think that's just the figure for the fuel. I don't think it includes storage, the solar panels, the burner, etc... The cost is an open ended question as well. Maybe this will pan out for aircraft?

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VBprogrammer ◴[17 Jan 25 19:41 UTC] No.42742404[source]▶
If that is 40% efficient as in 40% of the theoretical energy input comes out as electricity then it's quite incredible but I find that hard to believe. It would put it in the same range as diesel engines.
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1. jandrese ◴[17 Jan 25 19:46 UTC] No.42742471[source]▶
The 40% figure is supposed to be "wire-to-wire", but they do list that as the "target efficiency" which suggests it may be somewhat aspirational. It presumably doesn't include the energy needed to extract and refine the oil into whatever kind of burnable fuel you are using, nor the energy necessary to extract and then blend in the sodium additive.
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2. kube-system ◴[17 Jan 25 20:31 UTC] No.42742941[source]▶
And at the bottom they seem to indicate they are still in the "proving feasibility" stage.

I read this all as: "this is a POC we have, and if we can get it to 40% efficiency than it might make sense (otherwise who cares, just use a conventional generator)"

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3. ◴[17 Jan 25 21:18 UTC] No.42743363[source]▶
4. amluto ◴[17 Jan 25 23:37 UTC] No.42744398[source]▶
What does "wire to wire" even mean? The input isn't a wire! (Do they mean they think they can synthesize fuel and burn it at 40% overall efficiency? If so, that's pretty good.)
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5. ieidkeheb ◴[18 Jan 25 02:18 UTC] No.42745224[source]▶
If you electrolyse water with electricity into h2 and o2 then you have tour first wire.

When you reform the electrons via this engine and the photovoltaic cell you have your second wire.