I have one simple request. And that is to have solar panels with frickin laser beams.

[pleppik]

Normally I would not pass on an article from Science Daily, which can sometimes be just one step better than "Face on Mars" type science journalism. But this headline was too much to resist:

Revolutionary Solar Cells Double as Lasers

The kernel of interesting research news behind the hype is that a class of materials called perovskites can be used to build both photovoltaic cells and lasers. Sort of like silicon in that respect.

Perovskite-based photovoltaics are getting a lot of interest from researchers right now, and it's a material which is proving really interesting. It's all still in the lab, so you're not going to be buying perovskite-based PV modules any time soon (if ever), but for anyone interested in an article about this stuff with less hype and more details, here's a nice summary from a recent issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

[greenenergyscot]

Effectiveness of PV

There are forecasts that the effectiveness could achieve 50%, the expenses could drop to well below where rubber might get to in 10 decades, and the technology factors to it being appropriate to create these tissues wider, rather than as slim movies, significance they can be appropriate as screen or roof structure components.

[J.P.M.]

Normally I would not pass on an article from Science Daily, which can sometimes be just one step better than "Face on Mars" type science journalism. But this headline was too much to resist:

Revolutionary Solar Cells Double as Lasers

The kernel of interesting research news behind the hype is that a class of materials called perovskites can be used to build both photovoltaic cells and lasers. Sort of like silicon in that respect.

Perovskite-based photovoltaics are getting a lot of interest from researchers right now, and it's a material which is proving really interesting. It's all still in the lab, so you're not going to be buying perovskite-based PV modules any time soon (if ever), but for anyone interested in an article about this stuff with less hype and more details, here's a nice summary from a recent issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

Looks like it could be an April fool's punking ?

[pleppik]

Looks like it could be an April fool's punking ?

Pretty sure it's not. I did my homework on the perovskite research and it's legit. I think it's a clueless headline writer who just ran with it to generate click-bait, and I am forever ashamed that it worked on me.

And just so there's no misunderstanding on this point: while perovskites can be used both as a photovoltaic material and as a laser, they can't do both at the same time. So nobody will be getting solar panels which shoot down passing birds.

[pleppik]

There are forecasts that the effectiveness could achieve 50%, the expenses could drop to well below where rubber might get to in 10 decades, and the technology factors to it being appropriate to create these tissues wider, rather than as slim movies, significance they can be appropriate as screen or roof structure components.

You always have to temper your enthusiasm for anything still in the lab. There are a lot of deal-breakers between promising new technology and commercial reality.

I have a simple four-question test I use to decide how excited to be about a new energy technology:

1. Is it currently working?
2. Is it currently working outside the lab?
3. Is it currently working outside the lab cost-effectively?
4. Is it currently working outside the lab cost-effectively and at commercial scale?

Perovskite-based PV cells pass stage 1 but not stage 2.

That's better than many technologies which have been overly hyped in the past (fusion power, for example, has been talked about for over 50 years and still can't pass stage 1). But there's still a long way to go.

[russ]

while perovskites can be used both as a photovoltaic material and as a laser, they can't do both at the same time. So nobody will be getting solar panels which shoot down passing birds.

That would have been perfect for a duck hunting camp!

[russ]

There are forecasts that the effectiveness could achieve 50%, the expenses could drop to well below where rubber might get to in 10 decades, and the technology factors to it being appropriate to create these tissues wider, rather than as slim movies, significance they can be appropriate as screen or roof structure components.

Stay away from the screwy green sites and there are many - the bloggers are kids without any knowledge writing to get hits - cleantechnica comes to mind right off.