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That's possible because they count both photovoltaic and thermal conversion efficiency. I'm not entirely clear on whether they want to use the heat as heat or a
by brrt 11y ago
That's possible because they count both photovoltaic and thermal conversion efficiency. I'm not entirely clear on whether they want to use the heat as heat or always for electricity generation. They claim GaAs solar cells get 40% efficiency, which I'm ready to take at face value. 60% of the energy is then converted to heat. For a total of 80% conversion efficiency we'd need only 66% efficiency for the thermal-to-electricity conversion, which is well within theoretical reach, given they also claim >1000C achieved temperatures.
- makomk 11y agoThey can't convert the heat to electricity because they can't run the solar cells that hot - max operating temperature is 105C, and I'm not sure how great the efficiency and lifespan would be at that temperature. The 80% efficiency assumes they use the heat for heating, which might be a bit difficult in practice given the times of year and locations where this could actually be operated.
- brrt 11y agoOh. Well, if that's so, I'm not sure why they've chosen to use photovoltaics at all, because solar thermal should give you a much better cost-performance ratio, and still give you plenty waste heat to use as heat.