IBM looks to the Sun

Added by The Editor, 4 months ago.

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IBM researchers are looking to the Sun in the race to create more energy-efficient IT systems. Last week, they announced a significant breakthrough in photovoltaics technology that they claim could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the Sun's power for electricity.

They are using a large lens to concentrate the Sun's power, capturing a record 230W onto a centimetre square solar cell, in a technology known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV. That energy can then be converted into 70W of usable electrical power, about five times the electrical power density generated by typical cells using CPV technology in solar farms.

If IBM can overcome the considerable challenges that will be involved in moving this project from the laboratory into full commercial availability, company executives believe it can significantly reduce the cost of a typical CPV-based system.

"We believe IBM can bring unique skills from our vast experience in semiconductors and nanotechnology to the important field of alternative energy research," said Supratik Guha, the scientist leading photovoltaics activities at IBM Research. "This is one of many exploratory research projects incubating in our labs where we can drive big change for an entire industry while advancing the basic underlying science of solar cell technology."

By using a much lower number of photovoltaic cells in a solar farm and concentrating more light onto each cell using larger lenses, IBM's system reduces the number of components needed and saves money, they claim. Their initial results of this project were presented at the recent 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists conference, where the IBM researchers detailed how their liquid metal cooling interface is able to transfer heat from the solar cell to a copper cooling plate much more efficiently than anything else available today.

End-user organisations have much to gain if IBM's solar vision comes to fruition. Today, roughly 50 cents is spent on energy for ever dollar spent on computer hardware - and this is expected to increase by 54 per cent to 71 cents over the next four years.

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James, 4 months ago

I recently visited a solar 'tower' in Spain, which uses 600 'plain old' mirrors to focus the sun's energy onto a tower, where the 400 degrees heat generated is used to heat water that powers a normal turbine - it provides almost enough electricity to power the city of Seville all year round. New technology focused at harnessing nature's energy is great, but let's not forget that it doesn't have to involve millions of pounds of research, just more innovative ways of using what we already know.

Victoria, 4 months ago

I think it's fascinating how many companies are looking to nature and the elements for solutions to 21st-century problems. In a similar vein, the Economist recently ran an article (http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9719013) about the trend in architecture to borrow designs from natural objects to create environmentally friendly buildings. Really interesting stuff.