Dear Mr. Pickens,
Here is some breaking news on Solar Power:
Absolute Proof that Operational COP>1.0 EM Systems Are Possible and Eventually Practical
Brody, Herb. Victor Klimov in Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has constructed a solar cell which can absorb the light of a specific wave length in such a way, that one photon can energize more than one electron. As soon as the electron absorbs a photon, it disappears for a very short moment into the quantum field. Being in the virtual state the electron can borrow energy from the vacuum and thereafter appears again in our reality. Now the electron can energize up to 7 other electrons. This leads to a theoretical coefficient of performance (COP) of 700%. A COP = 200% can be readily achieved and it has been. The experiment has also been replicated successfully by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado. [Herb Brody, "Solar Power - Seriously Souped Up." New Scientist, May 27, 2006, p 45].
Quoting: "Make solar cells as small as a molecule; and you get more than you bargained for. Could this be the route to limitless clean power?"].
Additional references:
Richard D. Schaller, Vladimir M. Agranovich and Victor I. Klimov; "High-efficiency carrier multiplication through direct photogeneration of multi-excitons via virtual single-exciton states." Nature Physics Vol. 1, 2005, pp. 189-194.
Richard D. Schaller, Melissa A. Petruska, and Victor I. Klimov; "Effect of electronic structure on carrier multiplication efficiency: Comparative study of PbSe and CdSe nanocrystals"; Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 87, 2005, 253102.
Richard D. Schaller, Milan Sykora, Jeffrey M. Pietryga, and Victor I. Klimov, "Seven Excitons at a Cost of One: Redefining the Limits for Conversion Efficiency of Photons into Charge Carriers," Nano Lett. Vol. 6, 2006, p. 424.
Victor I. Klimov, "Spectral and Dynamical Properties of Multiexcitons in Semiconductor Nanocrystals," Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 58, No. 1, 2007, p. 635.
M. C. Hanna, A. J. Nozik. "Solar conversion efficiency of photovoltaic and photoelectrolysis cells with carrier multiplication absorbers," Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 100, No. 7, 2006, p. 07450.
Sung Jin Kim, Won Jin Kim, Yudhisthira Sahoo, Alexander N. Cartwright, Paras N. Prasad, "Multiple exciton generation and electrical extraction from a PbSe quantum dot photoconductor," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, No. 3, 2008, p. 031107.
Alberto Franceschetti, Yong Zhang, "Multiexciton Absorption and Multiple Exciton Generation in CdSe Quantum Dots," Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, No. 13, 2008, p. 136805.
There are more references and commentary at this URL.
Larry Brown
Your Eyes and Ears in SW Oregon
Now using a Mac Mini (Apple)