 |
Professor Avner Rothschild was interviewed.
Scientists from the Israeli Institute of Technology's Solar Energy Research Center (I-CORE) have developed a new photolysis hydrogen production method. This invention based on nanomaterials technology makes it possible to produce hydrogen at low cost by photolysis of water; if Grafting photovoltaic cell technology may create a hydrogen-generating photovoltaic industry and realize the combination of photovoltaic power generation and hydrogen production from photolysis of water.
This result has attracted widespread attention. Some people compared it with the famous “artificial blades†of the year and believe that its future is brighter. This achievement has also made the I-CORE, a "brain backflow" scientific research platform that the Israeli government has devoted to creating in recent years. Recently, a reporter from Science and Technology Daily interviewed Professor Avner Rothschild, the chief researcher of the solar energy research center of Israel Institute of Technology.
The revolution brought about by nanomaterial technology
“It is entirely feasible to use photolithography to produce hydrogen in integrated tandem photovoltaic cells. At the same time, photovoltaic power generation produces hydrogen and hydrogen, and hydrogen fuel is used to supplement the electricity needs of the dark and cloudy days.†Rothschild told reporters, “We have Finding a way to catch light, using ultra-thin iron oxide thin films, that is, ferrous oxide that is 5000 times thinner than office paper, ie, ferric oxide, is the key to achieving high efficiency and low cost. "The results of their research are published in "Natural Materials," and the topic of the paper is "Acquisition of Resonance Light with Ultra-thin Material for Water Pyrolysis."
Iron oxide is a common semiconductor material, which has low production cost, is not easily oxidized in water, corrosion-resistant, and resistant to decomposition and is more stable than other semiconductor materials. But its lower conductivity is the biggest challenge for researchers. For many years, researchers have worked hard to find a compromise between light absorption separation and photo-generated load collection.
"Our light-trapping scheme breaks this bottleneck. Ultra-thin iron oxide thin films can effectively absorb photo-generated charges," said Rothschild. "A mirror-like film is placed on a reflective substrate, and a quarter wavelength in light Or deeper sub-wavelengths are captured by the film. Simultaneously, the absorption surface is enhanced between light waves propagating forward and backward, and the absorption efficiency of the photo-generated charge carriers is better.
Speaking of the significance of this discovery, Rothschild believes that this research achievement makes it possible for photovoltaic power generation and hydrogen production to proceed simultaneously. One can design and fabricate a relatively inexpensive solar cell combined with an ultra-thin iron oxide photoelectrode. This type of solar cell can completely use conventional products based on silicon or other materials, but it can simultaneously realize photovoltaic power generation and hydrogen production. He said that these batteries have realized solar energy storage, so that photovoltaic power generation is no longer affected by the dark and cloudy, which is beyond the traditional photovoltaic power generation.
This invention can also reduce the amount of extremely rare metals used in second-generation photovoltaic cells. In theory, such solar cells can save 90% of rare elements such as gallium and indium without sacrificing power generation performance.
The consumption of water is also an issue that such photovoltaic power plants cannot avoid. Rothschild said that at present, they use the test results of fresh water, and their water consumption and economic efficiency are almost the same as conventional power generation. They will also carry out studies on photodegradation of hydrogen using seawater and are full of confidence. He said that since the release of their scientific research results at the end of last year, they have made great progress in raising the efficiency of hydrogen production. In theory, photovoltaic power plants based on this technology can already match traditional power generation, and their costs are comparable. Taking into account green, environmental protection, low carbon and other factors, such photovoltaic power plants already have advantages.
Taking up a large amount of land is another difficult problem for photovoltaic power plants. Rothschild is not very worried about this. He said that each country has a large amount of land that cannot be cultivated but is fully lit. They are a natural choice for the construction of photovoltaic power plants, and they cover the land in comparison with other uses and solve energy problems comprehensively. Land use need not be excessive. He took Israel as an example. Israel’s roads occupy 3% of the country’s total land area. Through this new type of photovoltaic power plant, Israel’s electricity demand is completely solved. As long as the national land area is 1%, national energy independence can be completely realized, and fossil fuels can be completely abandoned. .
Three steps to achieving clean energy
Rothschild analyzed the possibilities for realizing the dream of human clean energy. He believes that solar photovoltaic power generation is by far the most successful clean energy solution compared to wind energy, geothermal energy, nuclear energy, and tidal energy. The expensive energy technologies formerly used only for military and space have now become very mature and popular, with a high degree of industrialization. Although some people are still questioning the cost of power generation, the unit price of photovoltaic power generation in Israel has already converged with that of traditional power plants.
If the operating cycle is compared for a period of 30 years, the cost of generating electricity from the PV plant will be lower than the current electricity price. This does not include the production safety costs and the environmental pollution costs that traditional power plants have. Rothschild said that the former deputy director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance calculated the actual price of a traditional power plant twice the current PV power generation.
Rothschild is not optimistic about biofuels. He believes that biofuels' power generation efficiency is not high and that photosynthesis in nature requires a lot of land. To develop biofuels on a large scale, humans will face the dilemma of producing food from limited land or producing fuel. The energy crisis and the food crisis will be intertwined.
In fact, many countries have already raised the goal of developing renewable energy resources by a large margin. For example, Israel is now at 7% and will reach 20% by 2020. Germany’s goal is to increase renewable energy sources to 80% by 2050. Photovoltaic power generation is now the fastest growing compared to wind energy and hydrogen energy. However, the fatal injury of PV is that it cannot generate electricity in dark and cloudy days. If small-scale PV power plants can compensate and balance through other power generation methods, large-scale photovoltaic power generation must solve the problem of solar fuel storage.
The nano-iron oxide ultrathin-film hydrogen production technology developed at the historic moment is a highly efficient artificial photosynthesis, and the hydrogen production capacity is 10 times that of the natural world. Grafting now very mature photovoltaic technology can realize the perfect combination of photolysis of water and hydrogen production and photovoltaic generation. .
Rothschild proposed a three-step plan to solve the clean energy problem: the first step is to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation to 10%, the second step is to add the hydrogen energy system, and the third step is to replace fresh water with seawater. It is a blueprint for the sustainable development of humanity in its entirety."
W960/W1130
Width : 960/1130mm
Efficient width : 901/1080mm
Thickness : 1.3mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm
Length : customized
Aplication : roof, celiling, wall panel, etc.
Wall Panel,Corrugated Roof Panels,Corrugated Plastic Panels,Corrugated Plastic Roofing
FOSHAN CHANCHENG XINGFA TILE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. , https://www.upvcsheetsupplier.com