From Kirk Englehardt, Director of Communication at Georgia Tech Research Institute:

Thank you for sharing this very interesting story. There is, however, a clarification that needs to be added.

The 3D solar cell was invented several years ago at the Georgia Tech Research Institute by our team of world-class scientists and engineers.

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (www.gtri.gatech.edu) has been making 3D solar cell prototypes of this design since 2004. You can read about the work in our April 2007 news release online. Our work has patents pending in the US and abroad. We have also published our research widely in an number of highly regarded research journals including the Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Materials and Carbon.

The 3D Solar Cell has the potential to be breakthrough in the solar industry. The global and exclusive license to the 3D Solar Cell intellectual property is held by IP2BIZ in Atlanta. The license is currently for sale to any firm that can further develop, manufacture and bring it to market.

It is wonderful to see a student taking a real interest in science and math. We are also happy to hear of William’s interest in 3D solar cells. We encourage him to contact the Georgia Tech Research Institute so he may be connected with our lead researcher (Dr. Jud Ready), who would love for him to visit our laboratories to see how we create our photovoltaic cells. Who knows – maybe William can contribute to our groundbreaking work.

For additional information about this work simply Google “3D Solar Cell”

Here’s a quote from the Davidson Institute For Talent Development, which gave him the scholarship:

“In his project, ‘A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light,’ William invented a novel solar panel that enables light absorption from visible to ultraviolet light. He designed carbon nanotubes to overcome the barriers of electron movement, doubling the light-electricity conversion efficiency. William also developed a model for solar towers and a computer program to simulate and optimize the tower parameters. His optimized design provides 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than the cutting-edge, three dimensional solar cell.”

Now,my opinion: 500 times more light absorption doesn’t really mean over 100% efficiency, or 500 times efficiency. The light quantity is measured in Lux, and efficiency in %, it’s relative. They only say his cells are more powerful/cm2. If I’m wrong, please correct me. I may be, we’re all humans.

A good, fresh silicon solar cell can provide 15% conversion efficiency, relating output power to insolation. How do you achieve 75 times 100% collection?

Great concept, especially using UV as well as visible light, but those numbers are hard to grasp.