Stacking Solar Cells Like Pancakes: Much Smarter Than It Sounds

[impizkit]

The fact is solar energy is going to be pie in the sky nonsense for a long time to come. How many billions of tax payer money had been poured down a rat hole this year alone when many of the gov funded solar companies went tits up. Also solar uses many more tax $ than it generates. Count me a sceptic at least for the next 80 years

80 years, come on....

Advances in technology multipy by decade. If this isnt realistic in 80 years not much else is.

 

[gshock]

If you have high quality panels you can use mirrors to reflect sunlight back onto the PV cells. Doesn't change the type of technology or maximum efficiency, but it can increase efficiency at less then ideal conditions like dimming sunlight, overcast days or winter months. The quality of PV cell matters as it has to be able to [safely] tolerate the increased heat the mirrors will concentrate there.

Another decent idea is mounting the panels on a bracket that will track the movement/arc of the sun. ( a bracket tilts on a motor to follow the sun's direction to get the most exposure possible. )

Neither of these are "50 times" the cost of anything. Thankfully. Mirrors in particular are cheap.

MIT grads are just people too. Good ideas have to start somewhere.