3 ms·

The journal article linked to in the article (http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v98/i11/p113305_s1?bypassSSO=1 http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v98/i11/p

• simpleTruth 16y ago
  It's an interesting idea, I am simply mentioning the practical limitations. At this point it's a question of how cheaply they can scale it up and how much you can improve the efficiency. Looking at some of their numbers they block ~30+% of the light to gain ~1.3% of the energy you are better off with smaller windows and a high efficiency solar cell around the window. AKA 10% smaller windows block 10% of the light + a 20% efficient solar cell = 2% efficiency. Granted, there is probably a market even in it's current state.
  • gamble 16y ago
    I think the news article exaggerates the purpose of the device described in the actual paper. It isn't intended as a competitor for opaque power generation cells. The idea is that, since you already need an anti-reflective coating to block IR light, it might as well be a coating that can scavenge a bit of the incident power instead of sending it all back into space.