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7th-Grader Designs Three Dimensional Solar Cell
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:54 PM
from the lucky-guess dept.
from the lucky-guess dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "12-year-old William Yuan's invention of a highly-efficient, three-dimensional nanotube solar cell for visible and ultraviolet light has won him an award and a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. 'Current solar cells are flat and can only absorb visible light'" Yuan said. 'I came up with an innovative solar cell that absorbs both visible and UV light. My project focused on finding the optimum solar cell to further increase the light absorption and efficiency and design a nanotube for light-electricity conversion efficiency.' 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. 'My next step is to talk to manufacturers to see if they will build a working prototype,' Yuan said. "If the design works in a real test stage, I want to find a company to manufacture and market it.""
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How? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
Makes me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing rocks at cats.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Makes me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing rocks at cats.
Don't feel bad; you make me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing cats at rocks. Your way works a lot better.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Makes me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing rocks at cats.
Don't feel bad; you make me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing cats at rocks. Your way works a lot better.
The key is large rocks and properly accelerating the cats.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't feel bad; you make me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing cats at rocks. Your way works a lot better.
You may want to try throwing birds at stones instead.
It helps you build character.
- Chuck Norris.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
>> Makes me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing rocks at cats.
The NEA called. They want to fund your performance art.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
PETA called they have a cease and desist order to stop the performance art.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
The FBI called. Their future-serial-killer profiling software identified you as a potential threat. Tom Cruise will be breaking through the sun-roof in a minute or two.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Mod parent up
mod that kid's parents up
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
In all seriousness, I hope this somehow makes it to production, what a bad ass.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
That's what you think. Last year some 8 year olds invented wedgie-proof underwear [msn.com].
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Is anybody else feeling really inadequate right now?
I don't believe the size of the boy's penis was mentioned at all...
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
The boy is 12 years old. Don't you think he's a little old for Pokemon?
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm 23 and play Pokemon you insensitive clod.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Is anybody else feeling really inadequate right now?
Not at all. I'll go home, have a beer while watching pr0n and wait for my new 3D nano solar cell to arrive.
His fear will be that he's peaked at 12. Aim low, and you'll always be moving up.
And yes, I do realize this could be construed as passive aggressive.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds passive depressive to me ... ;-)
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you think that's bad you should check out the $50 k scholarship recipients ...
How much college does that cover these days, a little over a semester?
Parent
Overactive superego (Score:5, Insightful)
Is anybody else feeling really inadequate right now?
It is nothing but our own pride that insists that we are either the best in the world, or completely worthless.
There is a huge sliding grayscale of worthiness in the intellectual/industriousness domain.
The world needs a rich supply of people spread across that middle range.
In fact...the world needs the middlers more than it needs the geniuses. Given enough time the middlers can eventually get there on their own; the geniuses just accelerate the process a bit.
Once in a while a genius will do something that no number of middlers could ever have accomplished...which is nice...but once the genius has done it, the rest of us can follow suit. So, while we may need the occasional genius, we really don't need very many of them...whereas large numbers of middlers are the foundation of stable technological progress.
Drop the superego. Learn the value of who you already are, and be proud of it.
Parent
Re:Overactive superego (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed, and the proof is throughout history, the "middlers" are usually the ones that piece the genius together into workable solutions. Genius usually doesn't have the patience to see it through.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not really. Probably, his father is a research scientist in the field.
There was an article in the LA Times about how parents were using their contacts with research labs to get resources for their kids science fair project competitions - parents would do things like (a hypothetical example) getting a time-slot allocated on a supercomputer to run CFD simulations to design a turbine to capture energy from water running down a drain-pipe. Organisers of such events eventually made the restriction on the types of resources that could be used.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Gooder is not a word. I think you meant betterer.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
From the synopsis on the Davidson Institute [davidsongifted.org] website, it sounds like he simulated the design with computer models but did not actually build it.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Interesting)
By asking and actually putting forth effort to find the resources to work on it.
I learned electronics at the age of 8 by running around and digging in trash to find dead radios and other things for parts. I saved up the cash to buy the tools I needed (I used a wood burner for the first year as a soldering iron and plumbers solder)
If you're not lazy and actually search for this stuff you can get it, most resources you need are all around you. A buddy of mine made an electric go kart one summer from old water pipe and car parts we found around town and we taught ourselves to stick weld by using a old lincoln stick welder his grandpa had and we picked up the last 4 inches of welding sticks at the local body shop and construction sites.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Insightful)
nope cant blame gaming. I wasted a lot of hours on my Atari but I also designed and built things.
The difference between a dreamer and a engineer is that the dreamer draws things in class. The engineer draws things in class and builds them.
I had a jr high teacher tell my dad I was a failure because I drew nonsense in his classes. My dad looked at the drawings he took from me and said.." that failure designed and built that doodle in my garage. he learned how to bend steel and weld a sidecar frame and attached it to his dirtbike all on his own."
Note: sidecar on dirtbike while a neat concept is actually a BAD idea. I still feel the pain in my legs from that one.
Parent
i entered science fair in 7th grade (Score:5, Insightful)
i lost to a chick who was performing live open heart surgery on rats
i didn't feel inadequate: my parents weren't high ranking research scientists who could get the authorization to let their children have the run of the university research facilities on weekends
and who i knows how much else her parents guided her through
its far more impressive to build an aerodynamic soap box derby car out of balsa wood than it is to turn the ignition on your dad's cessna
well, in terms of personal achievement that is
i'm not saying i'd rather play with balsa wood than a cessna ;-)
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
I suppose his dad plays his chess matches and practices his Taekwondo for him too? [ditd.org] He sounds like a genuinely extremely talented kid:
Honors/Awards
* 2008 Davidson Fellow
* 2008 Northwest Science Expo, Second Place
* 2008 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Best Engineering Project
* 2008 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State (Verbal)
* 2008 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State (Quantitative)
* 2008 High Tech Kids First Lego League First Lego League (FLL) International Open
(team), Second Place Champion\u2019s Award
* 2008 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2008 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Second Place
* 2007 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State
* 2007 Intel Oregon FLL Champion\u2019s Award (team), First Place
* 2007 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2007 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Second Place
* 2007 World Taekwondo Headquarters: Poom Certificate
* 2006 Intel Oregon FLL State Tournament Young Team, First Place
* 2006 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2005 Intel Oregon FLL Regional Tournament (team), First Place Award
* 2005 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament (team), Second Place
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Her family has decided to pray she one day grows big boobs, or she may never leave home. That our bloodline shares this DNA is soooooo depressing.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
Is the point of the big boobs to work sort of like air bags in case she trips again?
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Funny)
I think the kid has a promising future as a chessboxer.
Parent
Re:How? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Amazing... (Score:5, Insightful)
If his idea works as well stated in the article, the guy deserves more than "a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development." The fact that it's a seventh grader makes it even more astounding.
Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
I thought multi-layered solar cells which captured increasingly high energy photos were common. I thought there were clearly understood theoretical limits on conversion efficiency, and that it would not be remotely possible to get 500 times more light absorption than currently achieved. I'm extremely skeptical.
Profit! (Score:5, Funny)
Yuan cleared his throat, and continued: (Score:5, Funny)
"Furthermore...
OMG! Zerg Rush! KEKEKEKEKEKEKE"
apologies, i had to bring the discussion down to my iq level at his age
500 x the absorption? (Score:5, Insightful)
You can't absorb more light than is there.
I'm not doubting that this is an idea with merit, but IIRC current PV cells are about 10% efficient, recent one being rather better. I can conceive (although I'd be skeptical) of a cell that captures 500% of the energy that similarly priced cells do, which would amount to 50% efficiency. That's seems almost too good to be true, but not nearly as impossible as getting 50x more energy out than the Sun puts in.
Re:500 x the absorption? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like the usual problems with stories concerning science - The reporter chose that line of study in college because they could barely pass the remedial math classes.
My guess is that someone said that for a given 2D footprint, this could capture 500 time more if you stack these #D objects 50 high. Something you generally don't do with a 2D panel.
The reporter, being distracted by a piece of lint, heard that and wrote "500 times more efficient".
Parent
Re:500 x the absorption? (Score:5, Insightful)
But you cannot capture more than the sun puts out. The fact is that cheap solar cells capture a few percent of the amount of energy that reaches the surface of the earth, UV included. There is NO way to multiply the efficiency 500 times. My guess is 500% is what was said, and some reporter mistranslated it.
Parent
Re:500 x the absorption? (Score:5, Informative)
Come on. Is EVERYBODY an idiot here?
Thats not true.
Its the percentage of the whole solar spectrum, including UV and IR. And its not 10%, but >20% even for moderately priced solar cells (high end is 40%).
The article is plain bullshit.
Parent
500 times? (Score:5, Insightful)
So TFAbstract suggests that conventional solar cells absorb less then 0.2% of the available light? I call big BS on that, it is not even energy conversion, just absorbtion. So his new toy may only be getting hot in the sun, not doing anything usefull.
Now on to the article itself, see if it was only the submitter or more that did not grasp physics.
500x not actually possible (Score:5, Informative)
I call shenanigans. Current standard solar cells are more than 0.2% efficient, so a 500x improvement would capture more energy than the sun puts out.
While this could certainly improve the energy budget, it has the minor problem that it violates the laws of physics.
But (Score:5, Informative)
what about these guys? [whatsnextnetwork.com]
They have been researching (and producing) cells like this for years; anyone see how they are different?
Early draft of his plan looks something like... (Score:5, Funny)
1) Develop 3d nanotube solar cell
2) Win science contest
3) Complete manufacturing tests
4) Manufacture
5) Become billionaire...
6) Jill Smith will like me! x0x0x
text of the slashdotted article (Score:5, Informative)
William Yuan's bright idea to create a new, more efficient solar cell earned him top honors as Oregon's only 2008 Davidson Fellow.
As part of the honor, the 12-year-old Bethany boy will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a reception Sept. 24 at the Library of Congress where he will receive his award and a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
"William's work was evaluated by university professors and environmental scientists," said Tacie Moessner, Davidson Fellows program manager in a call from Reno, Nev. "They look for the project's potential to benefit society and make sure it is socially relevant. Generally, the projects need to be at the graduate level."
Yuan worked on his project for the past two years with the encouragement of his science teacher Susan Duncan; support of his parents Gang Yuan and Zhiming Mei; and counsel of professional mentors Professor Chunfei Li of Portland State University's Center for Nanofabrication and Electron Microscopy, Fred Li of Applied Materials Inc. and Professor Shaofan Li of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of California - Berkeley.
"He is our youngest fellow in science that we've ever had," Moessner said. "He is really spectacular.
"His project will really make a difference in advancing the technology of solar cells. You would never know he's 12 looking at the quality of his work."
Young talent
William Yuan is a seventh-grader in Meadow Park Middle School's Summa options program.
He is an active member of the school's Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Club, First Lego League team and participant in the Science Bowl and MathCounts programs. He is also a two-time, second-place chess champion for the state.
Recognizing his interest in science, math and engineering, Yuan's science teacher encouraged him to tackle a challenging engineering project for the Northwest Science Expo after introducing him to nanotechnology and renewable energy research.
"We learned about some great energy and environmental issues," Yuan said. "To try to help, I researched the application of nanotechnology and renewable energy.
"I felt they would best complement my background knowledge and experience. After extensive research and community outreach, I wanted to work on a project to find a solution for some of the problems of the world."
Yuan decided to focus his project on finding the most efficient way to harness the sun's energy.
"I felt solar energy had large potential but it was underused," he explained. "Fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are only finite and are slated to run out by 2050.
"We need to make solar energy more cost effective and efficient."
With that thought in mind, Yuan got to work.
"Current solar cells are flat and can only absorb visible light," he said. "I came up with an innovative solar cell that absorbs both visible and UV light. My project focused on finding the optimum solar cell to further increase the light absorption and efficiency and design a nanotube for light-electricity conversion efficiency."
Yuan invested countless hours in his research, seeking out new resources in the field to find a workable real-world solution.
"He has worked very hard in the past couple years," his father Gang Yuan said. "We're grateful that he had great mentors and teachers to guide him.
"When he started on his research, he had great curiosity and wanted to dig into it more. As his parents, we looked for experiences to help him."
Watching his dedication impressed William's parents.
"This generation's sense of urgency is much stronger than my generation's," his father said. "They are thinking about the future and want to know how environmental issues will impact their generation."
Promising future
Tapping into that talent and giving gifted youth the opportunity to excel is what the Davidson Institute is all about.
The national nonprofit organization recognized 20 students this year for their
Parent
Re:Slashdotted and no comments.... (Score:5, Insightful)
> So does anyone know what 3d shape he used to achieve a 500x efficiency gain?
Since solar cells passed .5% with the first one, unless this kid attends Hogwarts this story is just this week's solar snake oil.
Parent
Key line from the article: (Score:5, Interesting)
"Regular solar cells are only 2D and only allow light interaction once," he said.
If this means what I think it means, it would seem to indicate that he has worked out some type of translucent PV cell that allows him to either stack cells or to mirror the light to cause it to travel through multiple cells.
If you could create a translucent PV cell that still performed on par with today's leading PV cells, and you put it on top of a mirror, and then you put a semi-translucent mirror on top of the PV cell, you might be able to increase the efficiency of a single cell with out increasing the silicone. You'd still be losing some energy to heat, but from the lay-mans arm chair, it would seem to be worth a shot. And completely concievable as something a 12 year old who is good with math and science could figure out on paper (determine amount of energy input and the amount of energy transferred/lost to heat for each pass through the PV cell, and the reflection/refraction rates for the mirrors.
Anyway, that's my first thought after reading what scant details were mentioned.
-Rick
Parent
Re:Yes... (Score:5, Funny)
Use of "fixed that for you" shall be considered proof that the user is a completely awesome badass.
fixed that for you.
Parent
Re:Yes... (Score:5, Funny)
How does it qualify as "well played" to make the same blindingly obvious "joke" that I didn't think of?
Fixed that for you.
Parent