Nearly every conversation I have about renewable technology, from solar to wind to geothermal, always goes from “it’s the next big thing” to “it’s too expensive for regular homeowners” to “once ‘they’ get the efficiency up and the cost comes down, then it will blow up". It’s frustrating. And, in spite of the buzz and excitement, these objections are partially valid. While you can generate all of your energy with current solar electric panels, it’s expensive. Less expensive with government rebates, but still, a large up front investment that requires up to 10 years to pay back. (Solar water heating is another point altogether, the entire country should have these on their roof.)
That proverbial "hump" is renewable energy’s challenge. But what’s difficult about the "hump" is that frog leaping current renewable technologies requires investment, experimental freedom, instinctual "hunch" following, luck, and usually a "huh?" moment. And that’s just the beginning. Going from R&D in a university setting to a free marketplace is where things get sticky. People want to (and should) get paid.
Take black silicon, the most recent "great green hype". Ten years ago researchers from Harvard discovered that if you roughen up the surface of a silicon wafer in the presence of a dopant (i.e. sulfur), you increase the photon sensitivity of the silicon. In solar terms, sunlight that lands on a panel’s surface could pass through and convert to electricity at a much greater efficiency. Great work, scientists. (You can geek out a little more with another old article from the Harvard Gazette.)
Now comes the arduous commercialization part. There are barriers between Harvard and licensing. There’s that business model thing. And, there are a myriad of industries that could benefit from this technology. Medical imaging, digital cameras, night vision, and surveillance companies have all popped their heads in the door with a "hey, what are you up to". The solar industry, which is still trying to establish a profitable process of manufacturing and pumping out pure silicon panels, is also in line. Some would argue that it needs to be moved to the front of the line.
The group that has finally licensed the patent for "Black Silicon", SiOnyx, has now positioned itself as a "process engineering" company, meaning that it will attempt to help current industries integrate this technology into current manufacturing processes in an efficient and seamless manner. Part of this group is the brilliant original research leader,Eric Mazur. As a fully funded entrepreneurial venture, the stakeholders (including VC’s and Harvard), will be looking to work with each industry individually to fully capitalize on their research. This appears to be a very smart approach, primarily because inserting the laser methodology into the current manufacturing processes would seem to be the simplest way of achieving quick integration across multiple industries.
The point is, these types of discoveries are what will finally end the "solar is too expensive" discussion. But, commercializing these discoveries takes a painfully long time when we’re all in a rush to decentralize our grid and generate our own power. Every politician, environmentalist, and citizen would love fast track this into the solar industry, but we are at the rightful mercy the free market. Hate it. But love it.
You can read more about SiOnyx at their corporate website here
