Lots of people talking about buying solar panels.

[renardboy@mastodon.social]

@quixoticgeek Great post. Distilling info into self-contained useful advice is a rare skill.

[vgarzareyna@mstdn.mx]

@billiglarper @quixoticgeek :0 i guess there's not that much room for improvement then

[billiglarper@rollenspiel.social]

@vgarzareyna @quixoticgeek

At least for consumers for now.

There's bifacial cells, where the backside also collects sunlight. But positioning matters a lot.
https://www.energysage.com/solar/bifacial-solar-panels-what-you-need-to-know/

It's possible to combine multiple layers to increase output (multi-junction cells). 32% efficiency is a thing. But this is DAMN expensive.
https://www.azurspace.com/en/products/space-products/

There's research on adding hybrid-organic (Perovskite) or organic solar cell layers. Would be huge if it works.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251015-perovskite-the-wonder-material-that-could-transform-solar-energy

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

@billiglarper @vgarzareyna all true. But if you're getting your advice on solar panel rating plausibility, you're not getting any of those, so the basics check stands. But yes. There are some edge cases.

[arcadiagt5@mstdn.social]

@quixoticgeek @billiglarper @vgarzareyna And it’s not fedi without pedantry!

[billiglarper@rollenspiel.social]

@quixoticgeek @vgarzareyna

Oh, absolutely. ~23% it will be for quite some time.

Just trying to be positive by pointing out that this it's not a hard limit and technological innovation is possible.

[bloodripelives@federatedfandom.net]

@vgarzareyna @billiglarper @quixoticgeek there isn't, but IMO the language of efficiency is a bit misleading when it comes to solar panels because we're using to thinking low efficiency = bad and needs fixing. That's true for fossil fuel technologies, where the energy put into the system is in a form that is rare, expensive and dangerous, so it matters a lot what percentage of that energy in is actually going to come out as useful work.

Photons from the sky are ludicrously plentiful and free, so the trajectory of solar panel manufacture has generally been to not worry too much about pushing the limits on efficiency, and work instead on making them cheaper and cheaper. And it's worked, solar is now the world's cheapest energy source! The solar panels we already know how to make are GREAT, the improvement needed is nearly all in, well, political will. (And battery storage/grid stability, but that's just political will in a trenchcoat.)

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

@bloodripelives @vgarzareyna @billiglarper yep.. basically the only time we need to care about even greater efficiency than we have now is if your putting the panels on something moving, like a boat, plane, or space craft. But I'd you're doing that, you're getting advice from a nerd on fedi...

[annantidote@chitter.xyz]

@billiglarper @disorderlyf @quixoticgeek @edavies maybe, and probably and thanks for the link, but i dont want to read german regulations (very detailed and complicated lingo) until i have an overview, specially of hardware, tech stuff and installation possibilities.

[drj@typo.social]

@vgarzareyna @quixoticgeek plants are about 2%, so we're 10x on nature already. And plants are how you make wood chip or coal for burning.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

@DavidPenington the reason I used this example, is one of the main areas where solar panel power rating is often inflated is on small portable setups for things like hiking, camping, etc... it might not be what you need to run your apartment on, but it may be enough to charge your phone when camping.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

@HollieK72 @DavidPenington exactly. I just used an example of Amazon. The same maths works for any panel. So when you are a stack of 10 440w panel offered for sale for a good price. You can check the size with the maths I showed and see if they really are 440w panels or if someone is trying to scam you.

[quixoticgeek@social.v.st]

@HollieK72 @failedLyndonLaRouchite I'm out of characters...

[ginevracat@toot.community]

@quixoticgeek @ShaulaEvans That is GOOD info. Thank-you.

[kkarhan@c.im]

@quixoticgeek Just for a point of reference:

The average solar energy around the globe is 135W/h &m².

OFC that assumes nighttime and also uniform energy output, which isn't at higher lattitudes, so 270W/m² & h is the global average at daytime and >540W is closer to a sunny day.

So yeah, that number is well within the cards.