[pct-l] ultralight solar cells

[ilja at cs.caltech.edu (Ilja Friedel)]

Hi Hayduke,

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003, Hayduke wrote:

> all of those applications are high powered (except maybe the boombox
> depending how load)

1kW of electricity (as mentioned) would be high powered. Enough to cook.
Imagine a 8x10 tarp made of these plastic sheet solar cells. Right now
this would cost a fortune, but prices drop steadily. And many hikers are
gearheads willing to shell out serious money.

> Electricity to heat is not a very efficient exchange. Trying to convert
> sunlight to heat via electricity as intermediate could never be as good as
> using the sunlight for heat directly ;-)

Well, I suggested to generate electricity during the day and store it for
the night. If you have a lightwight chemical alternative not involving
electricity - let me know. I've read the Soviets had tiny nuclear
batteries. Not sure if you can get them in the US...

Ilja.