12 year old boy develops a solar cel which absorbs 500 Times!! the light of existing solar cells!!

I thought this is significant news.

If he is right, solar panels with his 3D cells would provide 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than cutting-edge 3D solar cells.

LINK


Greetings Lunica

I sure hope he protects his invention.

But, how can such a smart kid actually believe in Global Warming?
Oh well, at least one good thing came out of that belief.

Certainly interesting. However if you read the comments and follow the links it appears he may have plagiarised.

If this is true....

end of oil age and all the dirt connected to it!

Hope, Shell or BP are not visiting him and buying the tech off the market.

Thats great of him to receive a scholarship at this age, hope he succeeds in this endeavour to create the solar cell and market it around the world and solve the energy crisis.

Originally posted by Alxandro
I sure hope he protects his invention.

But, how can such a smart kid actually believe in Global Warming?
Oh well, at least one good thing came out of that belief.

Does he say he believes in Global Warming in the video? I don't have broadband access and I couldn't see it in the actual article.

The fact he started with Lego rang a bell for me too. Perhaps in ten or twenty years, he's the guy that invented the Lego time machine from that other thread!

I found this in the comments section of this article.

The 3D solar cell was invented several years ago at the Georgia Tech Research Institute by our team of world-class scientists and engineers.

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (www.gtri.gatech.edu) has been making 3D solar cell prototypes of this design since 2004. You can read about the work in our April 2007 news release online at www.gtri.gatech.edu... Our work has patents pending in the US and abroad. We have also published our research widely in an number of highly regarded research journals including the Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Materials and Carbon.

So the question is: Did this boy plagiarize work that's been done by others before him?

Originally posted by toreishi
I found this in the comments section of this article.

The 3D solar cell was invented several years ago at the Georgia Tech Research Institute by our team of world-class scientists and engineers.

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (www.gtri.gatech.edu) has been making 3D solar cell prototypes of this design since 2004. You can read about the work in our April 2007 news release online at www.gtri.gatech.edu... Our work has patents pending in the US and abroad. We have also published our research widely in an number of highly regarded research journals including the Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Materials and Carbon.

So the question is: Did this boy plagiarize work that's been done by others before him?

As I said in a previous post in the thread, I can't see the video due to not having broadband and can only go off the article. But, from, what I can read of both the article and the comments, I don't get the impression that he's claiming to have invented or originated 3D solar cells, 'simply' reworked or made advancements on current 3D solar cells.

[edit on 19-9-2008 by Merriman Weir]

He did NOT plagiarize anyone's work. It states very clearly that his cell is "9x more powerful that today's existing advanced 3D power cells." His presentation is over-layed with "Today's existing 3D cells."

He has developed a NEW 3D solar Cell technology which blows away previous 3D solar cell technology. My hat is off to this kid! Assuming that the energy companies or the government don't ruin him, he stands to be a rich person - and deservedly so!

Very interesting

But the peak solar energy available (at midday) only amounts to 1kW/m^2 so even with 100% efficiency it would take 1 square km of cells to generate 1 gigawatt and that's only for a small portion of the day which is really nothing compared to consumer expectations.

This is an amazing breakthrough, especially for such a young person. I will agree that I hope he protects his creation from the big oil companies. They have billions of dollars to throw his way and it could be all too easy to give in to the temptation to sell out.

When it comes to this, the last thing I thought about was global warming. Rather, this would solve a lot of the energy crisis, reduce costs to businesses and individuals and cutback on world oil dependancy.

Combine that with the energy efficiency items that can be installed and an individual could spend several thousand dollars up front to cut more than 90% of the oil-based energy consumed.

Sounds like a win win to me.

The implications of this discovery is tremendous. And it took a twelve year old to do it.

Every house could not only be self supportive but add to the energy grid.

Fabulous stuff. Simply fabulous.

So much for Chevy and Ford's eggheads.

I can't wait for the day to tell the Saudi's to go back to camel herding and goat farming.

[edit on 9/19/2008 by jpm1602]

Considering how much our educational system has been dumbed down, it's really refreshing to see such a young student taking his studies seriously and actually contributing to society by discovering something that everyone can benefit from.

This invention won't solve all our energy problems but it may be just another piece of some future puzzle.

Interesting how the first thing that happens in the discussion is to try and debunk him. Considering the Scholarship he received, it is obvious he is vetted. I hope my vision never gets that narrow.

Nanotech and renewable energy! 12 years old!

I am encouraged for the future of the planet.

Outside school, William plays piano, chess, and has a Poom Belt certificate (black belt for those under 15) in Taekwondo. He also enjoys traveling and skiing.

His parents must be very proud.

Reply to Blaine91555

Interesting how the first thing that happens in the discussion is to try and debunk him... I hope my vision never gets that narrow.

If trying to establish the facts equates to narrowness I hope my vision never becomes broad.

All credit to the lad if he deserves it!

At the same time if we could just accept every upbeat claim on face value there wouldn't be much point to ATS.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
Interesting how the first thing that happens in the discussion is to try and debunk him. Considering the Scholarship he received, it is obvious he is vetted. I hope my vision never gets that narrow.

Well you see when a 12 year old boy invents something that a well funded institute can't in a high technology field certain questions have to be asked. It was like when it was claimed that NASA admitted calculations were wrong to a young boy; it was eventually proved not true but only after plenty of people ran with the story without verifying the information.

Good investgations require facts be checked on all stories.

Originally posted by Alxandro
But, how can such a smart kid actually believe in Global Warming?

Because he IS such a smart kid. And, apparently he hasnt been exposed to the "truth" about global warming yet, which the video below parodies.

video.google.com...

To the OP what a great find, and thank you for posting it.

The news lately has been so discouraging it is really refreshing to see some positive developments.

I hope this will help give the alternative energy developers some new ideas, and help break the fixation on fossil fuels a little.

Strikes me that one reason he could have done it - contrary to the debunkers - is that he's working on his own and has no one to tell him it won't work....

1 kw/m2 is a LOT , i would -a 75% efficiency would give 1 horse-power per square meter.. and if you think on how large your roof is

but at this point I guess the problem number one is on how to store the energy as batteries are simply too primitive for the amount of energy we need to use..

[edit on 19-9-2008 by sty]