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Lightcell: An engine that uses light to make electricity

(www.lightcellenergy.com)
112 points curl-up | 2 comments | 14 Jan 25 13:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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josefritzishere ◴[17 Jan 25 20:02 UTC] No.42742646[source]▶
The solar panel conversion of sunlight to usable energy to around 20%, with a theoretical max of 30%. So it's better than that.
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qayxc ◴[17 Jan 25 20:34 UTC] No.42742971[source]▶
That can't be true. The current record for non-concentrating cells is 39.5% efficiency using triple junction cells [1]

Concentrating cells are at 47.6% [2]

[1] https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(22)00191-X

[2] https://publica-rest.fraunhofer.de/server/api/core/bitstream...

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1. choilive ◴[17 Jan 25 22:20 UTC] No.42743892[source]▶
The innovation here is you have a system that emits monochromatic light, and you have solar cells tuned specifically for that bandgap, plus the system is also "naturally" concentrating because the light output is incredibly bright. 3000 suns vs 500-1000 suns in typical CPV, plus they also do waste heat recycling. End-to-end efficiency of 40% is definitely feasible as advertised.
replies(1): >>42745098 #
2. DaniFong ◴[18 Jan 25 01:52 UTC] No.42745098[source]▶
correct