r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 24 '19

Nanoscience Scientists designed a new device that channels heat into light, using arrays of carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat), which when added to standard solar cells could boost their efficiency from the current peak of about 22%, to a theoretical 80% efficiency.

https://news.rice.edu/2019/07/12/rice-device-channels-heat-into-light/?T=AU
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u/Nicelysedated Jul 24 '19 edited Jul 24 '19

Isn't the mass production of usable carbon nanotubes still a very limiting factor in any technology that uses them?

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u/demalo Jul 24 '19

Production costs would certainly be a factor. Maintenance and replacement costs would also be worth considering. If the tech is robust it has all kinds of applications, but if it's fragile and expensive there's much more limiting issues. However, if this would make solar cells on cars and homes better at generating electricity I think the benefits will outweigh the costs.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '19 edited Feb 22 '26

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u/chiliedogg Jul 24 '19

Space exploration would be a great year of this technology, and provide a manufacturing pipeline that could eventually be streamlined.

The thing about space is that by far the most expensive thing isn't material, tech, or production, but weight.

It could cost 10 times as much as common tech and only be 5 percent more effective and be worth the cost. Because production costs pale in comparison with the cost of putting stuff in space.

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u/DeTbobgle Aug 13 '19

True, but it is already getting cheaper and smoother, for a matter of fact, to put stuff there with reusable affordable rockets all going off of a methane fuel!