What is Digg?59 Comments
- built2spill, on 11/14/2008, -0/+19Well, at this rate, solar panels will give that magical 110% efficiency in a few weeks.
- jotate, on 11/14/2008, -0/+15It also cures cancer, aids, and cracks your iPhone for free 3G access.
- dartmanx, on 11/14/2008, -1/+14I keep hearing "efficiency breakthrough" here, and "efficiency breakthrough" there.
When in the HELL am I going to be able to buy inexpensive panels that save me money NOW, instead of "I'll make my money up over the next years/decades"? Science is all well and great, but where are the engineers implementing this stuff? The answer: companies that make solar panels have very little interest in seriously reducing their product cost and having to make their money via higher sales volume (also see: LCD monitors, Rockets, Fuel Efficient Vehicles, etc). - ZincSaucier, on 11/14/2008, -0/+9its almost as if scientists are capable of improving up and coming technologies!
- JerichoKS, on 11/14/2008, -2/+10I'll take anything that helps get off middle eastern oil.
- Zarxrax, on 11/14/2008, -2/+10Haven't we seen this exact same story on the front page of digg like... 100 times over the past few years? Somehow the coating remains a new breakthrough after all this time.
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -0/+8We see these new inventions every few days. WHEN THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO GET A FINISHED DESIGN IN THE SHOPS???
- inactive, on 11/14/2008, -0/+7This means I can have solar panels in my basement?
- dk911, on 11/14/2008, -0/+6I'll take anything that helps me get off...
... Oops.. forgot to say Middle Eastern Oil - yoda17, on 11/14/2008, -0/+6That's what makes it so special.
- AndrewMoyer, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5Give it time...
As more alternative energy companies increase competition, prices will go down and they will be forced to mass produce them to survive. - robertnealan, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5I feel like I'm reading about drastic improvements in solar technology on almost a daily basis, but have yet to see these newer efficient panels built anywhere while they continue to construct new coal power plants.
What the hell? - Sraser, on 11/14/2008, -1/+6Buried as incorrect.
94 Diggs. - davidg11, on 11/14/2008, -0/+5Just coat them with a lot more spray!
- AmaDaden, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4No but if this is just a simple anti-reflective coating it might mean that we can get rid of glare on glossy monitors.
- ayalan, on 11/14/2008, -0/+4And here I thought it was an article about increasing battery life for my iPod.
- MxM111, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3There are so many misconceptions in that article, that I would not be surprised if they would answer yes.
- FeloniusMonkey, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3^^^ all liars!
- funk1999, on 11/14/2008, -1/+4Coming to market in 3..2...never.
- kenedamick, on 11/14/2008, -2/+5Nano Bury
- AFelsinger, on 11/14/2008, -1/+42 days 30 minutes? seriously?
- wellgood, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3Idiot.
- hacam, on 11/14/2008, -1/+4Buried as incorrect 146 diggs. this is stupid.
- ryananger, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3Yeah, bro. I'm totally down for that, like, right now, bro.
- ryananger, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3Dugg to stop the chain.
159 diggs. - ertw1, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3d = lambda/4...get it? :) ertw!
- ryananger, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3The future is looking up, after all.
- sockpuppets, on 11/14/2008, -0/+3Digg was coated with it now all it does is reflect the same stories.
- copypastry, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2Looks like this one can be adopted to current cell designs, which is good news. Still I somehow doubt that we have the manufacturing capacity for ***** like this yet.
- Andrwmorph, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2It would be great if it were oil based.
- Number23, on 11/14/2008, -1/+3How about our own oil?
- Godlike, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2"I've seen this before from other university research groups and there is a world of difference between nice results in the lab and commercially viable products," Leggett said. "But at some point one of them is going to work."
Buried as conjecture? If tons of people are doing this and it's still not ready WHY IS IT NEWS?! IT'S JUST OLDS! - pjsmike, on 11/14/2008, -1/+3Solar panel is still one of the most expensive alternative energy. Anything that competes with commodities for human consumption is also not a good solution (i.e corn, sugar, and even switchgrass). Coal and algae is the future; they are both plentiful and algae converts the carbon dioxide to oxygen. Algae doesn't need to grow on land which reduces the constraints of ever increasing number of population, and can be converted to ethanol, biodisel, and even methanol. You guys ever thought of the pollution and energy wasted to create solar panels? It may be more than you think.
- cgibbo, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2Solar mode ACTIVATED.
- Fr4nk2012, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2don't want to be rich so......
- dartmanx, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2You're far too trusting. The time when alternative energy companies are thriving is far too remote, but don't worry, we'll deal with that soon enough.
- Leviathan433, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2The future is so bright, I've gotta wear nano-coated shades.
- beesaretasty, on 11/14/2008, -0/+22-4% increase in cost to deliver 4-5% more power and can be rolled out in 2-3 years. Is everyone else as excited as I am?
/sarcasm - jennut1, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2I wish this new material could be added to preexisting PV panels. It's almost as if the renewable energy industry is waiting for everyone to invest in technology they've had since the 80s, and then we'll have to buy all new panels to gain max effect. It makes me want to put off my investment of solar panels on my house - we're not in the best spot for max solar efficiency. I don't want to invest twice - the ROI would suck.
- fudgebrown, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2Nikon uses nano coatings on their lens elements to reduce flare and ghosting to allow more light to be gathered...
- AmaDaden, on 11/14/2008, -0/+2A break through today makes it in to your home in somewhere around 5 years. Also as the article said "I've seen this before from other university research groups and there is a world of difference between nice results in the lab and commercially viable products".
- iancgi, on 11/14/2008, -4/+6if you want to be rich invest in nanotechnology companies.
- Leviathan433, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1Dugg down as speculative.
- layzice, on 11/15/2008, -0/+160% off your utility bill... for the rest of your life(or about 40 years, whichever comes first)?
- SilverBlade2k, on 11/14/2008, -1/+2And just how long it'll be before one of the oil giants sweeps in to buy this technology?
We'll never see this in stores.. - CosmicSombrero, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1So here's my problem with these articles that keep popping up about increasing solar cell efficiency by 'allowing light to be captured from any angle.' They usually say that this means that you no longer need to waste energy tracking the sun.
OK, so you've made the panel able to absorb light incident at an angle to the normal. But that doesnt change the fact that the amount of sunlight the panel receives decreases as the angle increases. Its a projection effect, same reason the seasons change on Earth due to the incidence angle of sunlight.
This technology is great for stationary or fixed geometry panels (say, on a car), but large installations would be wasting a lot of potential flux by not tracking the sun, regardless of how good the coatings are. - sockpuppets, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1I'm 1% excited.
- Spoomeister, on 11/14/2008, -0/+1What do I coat them with to make them not cost $12K - $20K to install, in order to only save 60% off my utility bill?
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