Public Address | Cafe | Southerly: What on earth is a Grätzel solar cell, and why is it so important?

David Haywood

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:18:21 +1200

Steve Curtis wrote:

I wonder why you focus on 'Energy' but fail mention 'Power'.

Thanks for your comment, Steve.

I think your question may arise because you are confused about the terms energy and power.

Power is defined as energy per unit time. It's measured in Joules/second (aka Watts).

Energy…

Steve Curtis

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:21:00 +1200

I wonder why you focus on 'Energy' but fail mention 'Power'.

A babbling brook, a rooftop baking under the sun, a gentle breeze, waves crashing on the shore . All sources of energy but until its harnessed into power its useless to us !

My electricity company calls a low…

Andrew Stevenson

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:48:32 +1200

Yes much is promised by those developing new technologies, but little is delivered in comparison to those claims.
Provided a claim passes the sniff test (does not violate the laws of physics or requires super unobtanium to power it etc); a useful guide I've been told for evaluating a new…

Rob Stowell

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:33:58 +1200

This is very encouraging!
We live with an off-grid system that includes 12 x 80 watt panels, and electricity costs us approx 10 x what you'll pay the power companies. That's partly 'cos we use a lot of petrol or diesel and have to write off generators over 3-5 years;…

David Haywood

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:57:06 +1200

Andrew Stevenson wrote:

Batteries... don't forget the cost component

Fair point. Energy storage is certainly a major issue with all the 'flow type' renewable energy sources e.g. solar, wind, wave, and (perhaps to a lesser extent in NZ) tidal flow.

I was hoping to be able to cover this topic…

Andrew Stevenson

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:42:52 +1200

All very well to focus on the cells, but don't ignore the balance of plant required so you can use the power...
Batteries, if you are using a storage system, with their metal content require regular replacement that needs managing for toxicity effects.
And don't forget the cost component too…

Martin Roberts

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:42:13 +1200

My wife, Heather, reckons that eliminating toxicity is the biggest benefit offered by the work reported on here. Established solar technology shares the waste problem familiar from nuclear power – moderately expensive to setup, cheap and very clean to run, but what do you do with your equipment when you're…

David Haywood

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:49:22 +1200

Judi:-

You're quite right! Unfortunately time didn't permit more than a quick overview of this technology.

Some interesting areas where other research groups have had promising results include forming these cells onto flexible surfaces — which, for example, could be used as a coating for roofing steel.

Others researchers have…

Judi Lapsley Miller

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:02:41 +1200

Enjoyed your latest broadcast – I was reading about the NZ research just the other day and was wondering where to buy shares ;-)
A further benefit that I don't think got mentioned is that these cells can be put on all sorts of surfaces – possibly even fabrics. Of…

Public Address

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:02:41 +1200

Discussion from blog post.