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Lightcell: An engine that uses light to make electricity

(www.lightcellenergy.com)
229 points curl-up | 5 comments | 14 Jan 25 13:36 UTC | HN request time: 1.787s | 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. DaniFong ◴[18 Jan 25 02:03 UTC] No.42745152[source]▶
and better than small diesels / turbines / internal combustion engines, at closer to 20%
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2. bobim ◴[18 Jan 25 10:51 UTC] No.42747448[source]▶
500 MW GE turbines claim 64% efficiency, and one can use the wasted heat for district heating. If we have to burn something then using these turbines seems to be the best option, running 2-3 electric cars for the emissions of one. And probably 3000 e-bikes. Shouldn't you compete in this range of efficiency?
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3. jillesvangurp ◴[18 Jan 25 12:00 UTC] No.42747740[source]▶
There's only so much district heating that is needed. And mostly only in the winter. You'd actually need more energy for cooling in the summer when nobody wants to heat their place. District heating is a nice creative solution for waste heat. But there's a limit to how much of it you can use and how practical it is to use it. Mostly it's still waste heat that's going to be wasted (blasted straight into the atmosphere and space).

And we don't have to burn stuff. Which is why coal and gas powered electricity generation is a bit under pressure in most markets. There are cheaper and better ways to get energy now.

4. paulsutter ◴[18 Jan 25 17:52 UTC] No.42750002[source]▶
This would be a great addition to the website. Also, talk about applications, even show a comparison chart vs existing solutions
5. DaniFong ◴[21 Jan 25 20:52 UTC] No.42785052[source]▶
eventually we would hope to get there, but, we are trying to have an edge somewhere that isn't the literal most refined and large capex part of the market first. if we can have a 10x edge