Kan utnyttelse av kvantefluktuasjoner føre til mer effektive solcellepaneler?

If scientists are correct, the world may be on the verge of a climate crisis.  With that being the case, something must be done sooner rather than later to address the issue.  For many, the low-hanging fruit to battling climate change remains a transition away from our reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy towards more sustainable options like hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar.  However, for this to truly occur, a concerted effort must be made to advance the technology behind these alternatives.  Thankfully, researchers are hard at work already, with multiple recent studies pointing to a bright future for photovoltaic cells, which make solar energy harvesting possible.

Bowtie-resonatorer

One of these aforementioned studies has successfully outlined a future in which, through reliance on quantum fluctuations, ‘bowtie resonators’ can potentially self-manufacture.

Bowtie-resonatorer er en type struktur som skal brukes i neste generasjons fotovoltaiske celler, bygget med mål om å fange lys i et innelukket tomrom. Formålet er å maksimere kontaktiden mellom det fangede lyset og det mediet som brukes til å overføre/fange energi. Interessant nok får bowtie-resonatorer navnet sitt fordi formen ligner en sløyfe.

Typically, in the absence of leakage, the smaller the resonator, the more effective it is at trapping light – leading to higher efficiency and energy capture.  Unfortunately, we have reached a point in time where traditional manufacturing techniques have almost been maximized.  This is where the study comes in, which looked to leverage quantum fluctuations that result in the fundamental forces known as the,

• Casimir-effekten
• Van der Waals-kreftene

The purpose of this was to essentially guide the self-manufacturing of a resonator far smaller than is currently possible at scale.  The result was a significant and successful advancement in semiconductor device manufacturing, as the team was able to leverage the Casimir-van der Waals forces for ‘deterministic self-assembly’ of suspended silicon nanostructures and the successful creation of a nanoscopic resonator void.

Simply put – rather than attempting to build a resonator at such a small scale, the team built two halves and relied on quantum fluctuations to ‘fuse’ them together when placed in extremely close proximity to one another.  The paper indicates that “By contrast, planar semiconductor technology has had an immense technological impact, owing to its inherent scalability, yet it seems unable to reach the atomic dimensions enabled by self-assembly.”

Hva betyr det?

The implications of this technology are far-reaching, with potential applications across various fields. The paper elaborates on this, stating the following.

While our work showcases the self-assembly of photonic cavities with few- to sub-nanometre confinement, our method may be applied in a much broader field of research and technology, for example, solid-state nanopore sequencing, nanogap quantum tunnelling electrodes or ultra-high-quality shadow masks for superconducting quantum electronic devices.

More generally, our work opens perspectives for exploring new regimes of photonics, electronics and mechanics at atomic scales while at the same time enabling scalable and self-aligned integration with large-scale chip architectures.

The self-assembled waveguide-coupled cavity is particularly interesting with regard to enhanced light-matter interaction, potentially enabling the operation of devices at single-photon levels and facilitating new levels of efficiency not yet seen in photovoltaic cells.

Bakkontakt-fotovoltaiske celler

Notably, this is not the only potentially game-changing advancement in recent weeks surrounding photovoltaic cells.  Researchers at the University of Ottawa (U of O) successfully manufactured the “…first back-contact micrometric photovoltaic cells’.

Kilde: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666386423005325?via%3Dihub#abs0015

Essentially, this is a novel manufacturing technique that greatly reduces the ‘shadowing effect’ in a photovoltaic cell by repositioning electrical contacts onto its backside.  This means that the energy-gathering medium utilized is able to boast more surface area, which captured light can interact with.  This approach also allows for significant miniaturization of the cells.  All of which means greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Alternative Applications

Interestingly, these discussed breakthroughs are important for more than just harnessing solar energy.  They may also potentially point to a path forward for nanotechnology at large by demonstrating the feasibility of leveraging quantum fluctuations and fundamental forces like the Casimir effect and Van der Waals forces.

Direkte selvproduserende materialer vil åpne et nytt område av muligheter innen materialvitenskap som vil påvirke nesten alle industrier dypt. Dette betyr lettere og sterkere byggematerialer, miniaturisert elektronikk, mer effektive medisiner, målrettet legemiddellevering, og mer.

Konklusjonen er at nanoteknologi en dag kan fundamentalt transformere disse industriene, og gjør det til et spesielt fengslende og lovende område for vitenskapelig og teknologisk utforskning. Det er imidlertid viktig å erkjenne at en dirigert, selvprodusert bowtie-resonator kun er ett steg i et maraton.

Industry Players

While it may be some years before we see self-assembling bowtie resonators and back-contact cells used in real-world applications, these are the types of innovative advancements that will be needed if we expect to avoid, or at least mitigate, the potential climate crisis we are already facing.  With that in mind, the following are a few publicly traded companies heavily involved in the growth of the solar industry and the technology that makes it possible.

*Tallene nedenfor var korrekte på tidspunktet for skrivingen og kan endres. Eventuelle potensielle investorer bør verifisere tallene*

1. NextEra Energy Resources

NEE Prisdiagram

NextEra Energy (NEE ) Resources er Nord-Amerikas ledende selskap innen ren energi, og leder innen vind- og solenergi produksjon.  Det utvikler, bygger og driver elektriske kraftprosjekter, inkludert mer enn 150 vind- og solenergi-sentre på tvers av 26 stater i USA og fire provinser i Canada, og genererer over 17 000 megawatt vind- og solenergi.

2.  First Solar

FSLR Prisdiagram

First Solar (FSLR ) designer og produserer solenergisystemer og solmoduler ved bruk av tynnfilm halvlederteknologi.  De tilbyr også støttetjenester som finansiering, bygging, vedlikehold og resirkulering av paneler ved slutten av levetiden.

3. SolarEdge Technologies

SEDG Prisdiagram

SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG ) er en global leder innen smart energiteknologi. De tilbyr løsninger for fotovoltaikk, lagring, lading av elbiler, batterier, uavbrutt strømforsyning og netttjenester. Selskapet er kjent for sin SolarEdge DC-optimaliserte inverterløsning, som maksimerer kraftproduksjon samtidig som den reduserer kostnadene for energi produsert av fotovoltaiske systemer.

Avsluttende tanker

The advancements in photovoltaic technology, particularly the development of self-assembling bowtie resonators and back-contact photovoltaic cells, mark a significant stride in addressing the urgent challenges of climate change.  These innovations represent more than scientific progress; they are critical steps toward realizing a sustainable energy future.

Etter hvert som disse teknologiene nærmer seg bred adopsjon, lover de å gjøre solenergi mer effektiv, kostnadseffektiv og tilgjengelig, og dermed akselerere overgangen fra fossilt brensel.  Denne fremgangen innen solenergi teknologier er ikke bare i tråd med miljømål, men understreker også potensialet for fornybar energi til å bli en dominerende, praktisk energikilde i nær fremtid.