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Breakthrough in Solar Panel Technology from a 12 Year Old?
Posted 09/22/08 at 04:25:26 PM | by Paul Lilly
It looks as though today's 12-year-olds are well past the days of building model volcanoes for the school science fair. And if not, well, William Yuan just put the smackdown on the competition
Yuan, a seventh grader from Oregon, set out to improve solar technology, which at the moment could be a lot more efficient. And he appears to have done just that. Yuan's project, which he calls "A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light," could shake up the energy industry and lead to real change into how solar energy is harnessed and distributed.
For his project, Yuan used a special solar cell capable of harnessing both visible and ultraviolet light, whereas most solar cells use either photovoltaic (only visible light), or thermal. Ultraviolet light holds interest because it can potentially provide more energy than the longer-wavelength members of the electromagnetic spectrum. And if that weren't enough, Yuan designed his project so it could stand freely in three dimensions to collect more light, and to make use of carbon nanotubes to distribute the energy more efficiently than traditional cells.
For his efforts, Yuan received a well deserved $25,000 scholarship, a fellowship at the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, and a various other awards.
What was your science project?
Comments Print Email lol, actually i made it to
Submitted by hogkill on Wed, 2008-09-24 07:17
lol, actually i made it to the national science fair with my project. also looks like this kid's dad may have helped a bit (lol yeah just a bit).
Submitted by Queenof1 on Tue, 2008-09-23 18:07
Which do people prefer, Coke or Pepsi?
Submitted by AkuPenguin on Tue, 2008-09-23 17:10
I think I separated salt from water through freezing... It sucked.
Submitted by cap737 on Tue, 2008-09-23 10:38
Good job kid. I hope you patented this new finding and make some profit on it to help with your future.
Submitted by Shalbatana on Tue, 2008-09-23 07:47
Way to go kid!
_______________________________
"There's no time like the future."
Saw this on the local news last week or so.
Submitted by Talcum X on Tue, 2008-09-23 04:03
Whether he got the idea from another person or not, did that idea previously go anywhere? Was it patented? Did a company start research on the idea? If not, then this was the boost the idea needed to hopefully get this aging technology needed.
I didnt have a science project. I had to cheat to pass Chemistry class. I hacked the homwork program on the floppy disk (Apple IIe) to be 80% correct. when tests were taken.
***********
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
"In Ireland, there are more drunks per capita than people." - Peter Griffin
The fact that America likes
Submitted by jwalch.hawk on Tue, 2008-09-23 10:23
The fact that America likes the same idea more from the mouth of a 12-year-old than it does an esteemed professor at a research university should tell us something...
I tested to see what the
Submitted by Strongbad536 on Mon, 2008-09-22 18:36
I tested to see what the possible ways were to blow up computers. (using salvaged parts of course, wouldnt even think of trying to do that with my 4850 and penryn.)
Submitted by winmaster on Mon, 2008-09-22 17:32
What does this kid need a scholarship for. If he could afford to buy the supplies to do that, his parents must be loaded. He probable has a mac book pro with bootcamp and Vista Ultimate.
For my science project, I tested web browsers in the real world. (Opera 9 beat IE7 and Firefox 2, by the way).
I want a scholarship.
Most likely did swipe an idea here and there...
Submitted by ironsmyth777 on Mon, 2008-09-22 17:31
BUT! This is a twelve year old (with the likely help of an intelligent adult) who redesigned a tech. that has been hailed as maxed out for years. It's good to see something like this. At least it made me happy. Not only does the kid get a paycheck but hopefully he has embarrassed someone into making a better GREEN tech. If he did borrow the ideas or not is irrelevant to me, sure he has to learn that you can't do that in the real world, but what I'm glad to see is someone being able to apply an idea into something useful.
Makes me feel better about the ideas I borrowed, copied, and stole to make my 2002 Ford Explorer get 28+ mpg highway (@60 mph). BTW my 1999 Firebird gets 30+ (also @60 mph)! No I'm not kidding... just apply a lot of little gains and drive the speed limit to get them there. Both are 6 cyclinders and output is 200> horsepower for each. Both just rolled over the 100 thosand mark also. (Not bad me thinks) :)
Hey I've got a 2003 Ford
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Mon, 2008-09-22 18:09
Hey I've got a 2003 Ford Explorer with an 4.0litre V6 with AC in the Arizona Heat. How did you get that kind of milage out of it? Please share with me. I will make the mods. 69,000miles.
Submitted by ironsmyth777 on Wed, 2008-09-24 08:54
When things needs replaced, do the upgrade, otherwise the cost will barely be offset by the savings.
That having been said a K+N air filter and intake tube was the biggest thing that affected mpg. Have you looked at the air box on this thing? It's crazy how much restriction there is in this setup. Actually mine is a knock off Ebayed K+N clone (+4-5 mpg).
Spark plugs are Autolite double platinum and plug wires are Autolite Pro. (No measurable mpg gain but idle is much smoother.)
Exhaust was the most expensive piece and again cost vs need. I replaced the catalytic converter and muffler with MagnaFlow aftermarkets due to the converter being stopped up and I wanted more free flowing muffler. I discovered this problem after dragging the muffler off (around 80,000 miles) helping a friend move junk and quickly realized the exhaust tone had not changed. Luckily the friend is a welder so he did the exhaust repairs/mods for free (I bought the parts) (+2-3 mpg). For the record it still does fine on emissions tests.
Have the computer flashed. The plus is a noticeable jump in hp and torque (+2-3 mpg) after being flashed for performance. There is a millage flash out now (I haven't tried it).
The last thing is limit speed! The difference between 62 and 72 mph is 6 mpg! It only gets worse from there. 60'ish seems to be the sweet spot.
All of my mpg measurements were taken on the same road, same route, interstate conditions, driving 60 miles a day with the cruise set at 62'ish. Measurements were done by the tankful multiple times to get these numbers. Best was a week of 50 degree temps and light rain. (31 mpg) Worst week was hot (+100 degrees) and dry (sorry for where you live) at 26 mpg.
Also, mine has the tow package. I don't know if that affects things or not. Let me know how/if this helps.
Submitted by MrNaPaLm32 on Mon, 2008-09-22 17:17
Its not like he actually came up with the idea.
Submitted by sdcat on Mon, 2008-09-22 16:39
If it could be done with more rays + 3D than just direct visible light, temp and 2D. This is worth been developed into actual comercial and residential product. Good Job William Yuan, a 7th grader.
Submitted by jrocknyc on Mon, 2008-09-22 16:31
i cut out the planets and glued them to a piece of cardboard. :(
Submitted by jwalch.hawk on Mon, 2008-09-22 15:53
"For his efforts, Yuan received a well deserved $25,000 scholarship"
Well-deserved presuming that the allegations of plagiarism are false...
Jud Ready, Georgia Tech, April '07
Google above. Compare.
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Mon, 2008-09-22 15:41
I think I just made a balloon powered car that I actually got from a cereal box. I got honorable mention. Where's my scholarship?
I also dismantled an top of the line 8088 IBM clone and explained what each and every individual component did.
So this is a 7th grader? I guess the public school system isn't that bad after all.
Submitted by Asevening on Mon, 2008-09-22 14:44
The way the satelitte dish is positioned makes it look like its attached to a major portion of the house.
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