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Does anyone know methods for hackers to help and learn more about solar ? It it possible for the mathematically trained to easily immerse and innovate in the i

by 1971genocide 11y ago

Does anyone know methods for hackers to help and learn more about solar ? It it possible for the mathematically trained to easily immerse and innovate in the industry ? It it possible to manufacture solar cells "in your garage" so to speak ?

ChuckMcM 11y ago
Generally you can't grow silicon crystals in your garage, although you can create the photovoltaic effect with amorphous materials (see CIGS solar cells). A good start is to apprentice with a solar installation company to get a feel for what is the "current" situation.
chm 11y ago
My MSc is concerned with a model for simulating molecular photovoltaics. The work I do is a blend of physics, chemistry, maths and programming, in different proportions. I wouldn't say it was "easy to immerse", but complement your skills with physics/chemistry and you could be useful, yes. A Grätzel or dye sensitized solar cell can be easily created in your garage. Look them up on Youtube.
- selimthegrim 11y ago
  Better models for molecular photovoltaics are sorely needed. Math skills are not unwanted. Source: I work in the field.
Gravityloss 11y ago
Production-demand balancing / forecasting will be a huge business. It can include a lot of software.
silverthorn 11y ago
As the article notes, module technology and module costs are no longer the most significant barrier to solar adoption---so if you're in software, the greatest opportunities to have significant impact are probably in tearing down the numerous _other_ barriers to widespread adoption. To use the situation I'm most familiar with: there are hundreds of millions of people in emerging economies who live off-grid and spend tens of billions of dollars annually on expensive fuel-based energy. They'll switch to solar tomorrow if we [1] can solve the problem of upfront financing [2]. It's the same problem that SolarCity, Sunrun, et al. are tackling in the US. This problem is the kind that gets solved by, among other things, developing the same kind of enterprise-targeted mobile/web/backend/data systems familiar to any developer at a modern SaaS company (but targeting a different, unusually interesting and important market, with some unique challenges). [1] https://careers.stackoverflow.com/company/angaza/ https://careers.stackoverflow.com/company/angaza/ [2] http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/selling-energy-service-meeting-needs-of-poor http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/selling-ener...
prostoalex 11y ago
There's a solar energy course on edX, where they walk you through designing a photovoltaic system https://www.edx.org/course/solar-energy-delftx-et3034x https://www.edx.org/course/solar-energy-delftx-et3034x Although most of the current innovation seems to be focused on the panel efficiency, and that area requires some understanding of Materials Science http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/01/understanding-perovskite-based-solar-cells http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/01/understanding-perovskite-b...

ChuckMcM 11y ago

Generally you can't grow silicon crystals in your garage, although you can create the photovoltaic effect with amorphous materials (see CIGS solar cells). A good start is to apprentice with a solar installation company to get a feel for what is the "current" situation.

chm 11y ago

My MSc is concerned with a model for simulating molecular photovoltaics. The work I do is a blend of physics, chemistry, maths and programming, in different proportions. I wouldn't say it was "easy to immerse", but complement your skills with physics/chemistry and you could be useful, yes. A Grätzel or dye sensitized solar cell can be easily created in your garage. Look them up on Youtube.

selimthegrim 11y ago
Better models for molecular photovoltaics are sorely needed. Math skills are not unwanted. Source: I work in the field.

Gravityloss 11y ago

Production-demand balancing / forecasting will be a huge business. It can include a lot of software.

silverthorn 11y ago

As the article notes, module technology and module costs are no longer the most significant barrier to solar adoption---so if you're in software, the greatest opportunities to have significant impact are probably in tearing down the numerous _other_ barriers to widespread adoption. To use the situation I'm most familiar with: there are hundreds of millions of people in emerging economies who live off-grid and spend tens of billions of dollars annually on expensive fuel-based energy. They'll switch to solar tomorrow if we [1] can solve the problem of upfront financing [2]. It's the same problem that SolarCity, Sunrun, et al. are tackling in the US. This problem is the kind that gets solved by, among other things, developing the same kind of enterprise-targeted mobile/web/backend/data systems familiar to any developer at a modern SaaS company (but targeting a different, unusually interesting and important market, with some unique challenges). [1] https://careers.stackoverflow.com/company/angaza/ https://careers.stackoverflow.com/company/angaza/ [2] http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/selling-energy-service-meeting-needs-of-poor http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/selling-ener...

prostoalex 11y ago

There's a solar energy course on edX, where they walk you through designing a photovoltaic system https://www.edx.org/course/solar-energy-delftx-et3034x https://www.edx.org/course/solar-energy-delftx-et3034x Although most of the current innovation seems to be focused on the panel efficiency, and that area requires some understanding of Materials Science http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/01/understanding-perovskite-based-solar-cells http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/01/understanding-perovskite-b...