Comment on If the first solar entrepreneur hadn't been kidnapped, would fossil fuels have dominated the 20th century?

• HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  No such thing as too curious… unless you are a cat. Little dangerous there.

  If im reading this correctly, and translated to english:

  • non conductive block

  • two different alloys - zinc and opposite to zinc (antinomy) v copper and nickle/copper/zinc.

  • assuming light hits, produces difference between metal and opposite metal, results in current flow through wire to equalize. Not sure how rare earth Nickle and zinc are, but suppose its not cobalt.

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  • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    So it’s a Seebeck Effect generator and really isn’t what we’d call a solar device today.

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    • luthis@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Seebeck Effect

      This is how fridges work in reverse right? Apply current and make one side really cold?

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      • belathus@bookwormstory.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        The device you’re thinking of might be a peltier or thermoelectric cooler (TEC). But yes. They’re way less efficient than a vapor compression refrigerator, though.

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      • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Fridges work on gas pressure - compress a gas it heats up, decompress a gas it cools…

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      • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Like the very small fridges that work for a single soda can? Refrigerators use the liquid/gas transition to move heat around. It’s much more efficient.

        The only real advantage of Peltiers are simplicity and size.

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    • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Sorry - above my pay grade knowing what that is. Got a bit of education to get through.

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      • CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Basically when there’s a temperature difference been two different metals that are touching a small current is produced. You can also go backwards and use electricity to create a temperature difference (Peltier Effect).

        They have niche applications because the effect is pretty small. Hardly a realistic substitute for solar panels that use the photovoltaic effect.

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  • luthis@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Nickel and zinc are very common to my knowledge. And much easier to mine than lithium

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• sj_zero ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Oh, it's just a thermopile put out in the sun.

  I can see why it never caught on then. You'd be relying on the difference in temperature between the hot side of a thing painted black put in the sun and the cool side in the shade. The amount of energy you'd get from such a setup would be infinitecimal. I'd expect you'd need to do an absurd amount of work and use an absurd amount of material just to power a single house.

  The amount of energy it would take to build a "solar cell" thermopile that'd generate 1.5v with a quite high internal resistance would probably be in the megawatt-hours, likely from coal and oil.

  • luthis@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    There were some numbers in one of the links I posted, hopefully that is able to give some solidity to the theory.

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    • sj_zero ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It was early when I read the article, I got the impression that the 9W was for the furnace version of the thermopile electric generator.

      • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        The larger versions generated 45, 60 and 240 watts. Another source said 500 watts.

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• PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  What is the typical conversion efficiency of a solar powered thermocouple?

  “Cove presented his second solar electric generator there in 1909. This 1.5m2 panel could produce 45 watts of power and was 2.75% efficient in converting solar energy into electricity.”

  resilience.org/…/how-to-build-a-low-tech-solar-pa…

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