Interesting thought. I was wonder what type of sensor and systems are we talking about? My first thought was this was going to be part of a large array of sensors which only recorded a few KB of data. If thats' the case, they would be somewhat disposable so if i ship or curious fish took some out there wouldn't be an issue.
Elizabeth—great story.I have my reservations about the degree of ultimate success for this technology but then again stranger things have happened.I think tomw is on to something when he mentions the debris that can accumulate on a flat plate collector.I will say this; the amount of energy for the depth involved is impressive.I wonder if the degree of salinity has a great effect on the transference of light to the collector. Robatnorcross mentioned subs an ocean-going ships interfering with the installations.How about curious fish (big fish) and migrating schools of "whatever".At any rate, certainly an interesting topic to follow.Thank you for the information.
large ships EASILY have a draft of 29 feet. What about subs? This gives them something to bump into or grind up with the props. Seems to me that the thing will have to be anchored to the bottom anyway (like a mine) so why not just use the ocean movement (spelled waves)?
I'm REALLY skeptical about the amount of energy (Watts) you can get from the things as in the already mentioned seaweed, etc. not to mention barnacles that seem to like ship hulls.
Thanks for reporting this. There are several different materials that can be used for PV solar, as well as for non-PV solar technologies. The predominance of silicon for PV solar, most particularly crystalline silicon, happened mostly because it was a cheaper, ubiquitous material and because the entire sourcing and manufacturing process could be easily integrated into the existing manufacturing infrastructure using existing processes, knowledge and equipment. Solar cells based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), such as triple junction GaAs, and other forms of gallium like GaInP are highly efficient, but the material cost is very expensive.
I'm sure that using the correct materials that an efficient solar cell can be made. The devil is in the packaging. I have never seen a shallow underwater surface that was not covered with silt, algae or some manner of marine growth.
Great story. It's been said that in some (northern) geographical areas of the U.S. solar cells produce usable energy about 15-20% of the time. I wonder how much of the time an underwater solar cell can produce usable current.
Elizabeth, this can go a long way toward solving a logistic challenge for naval sensors. I assume that some of them might be associated with ASW technology. These have to be around for a long time. An autonomous power source like this will decrease cost to service and enhance security, since they do not have to have their batteries replaced by ships that can be tracked. The decision to use a different material for the solar cells is also interesting. All too often we use materials, like silicon, that are familiar and easy to work with.
UK-based Plastic Logic and French company ISORG have created what the pair tout as a first in flexible printed electronics: a large area, conformable, organic image sensor printed on plastic.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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