[HN Gopher] 2D Solar Cells Poised to Set Power-per-Weight Record
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       2D Solar Cells Poised to Set Power-per-Weight Record
        
       Author : rbanffy
       Score  : 10 points
       Date   : 2023-06-17 18:28 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (spectrum.ieee.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (spectrum.ieee.org)
        
       | malfist wrote:
       | This smells of bad science journalism.
       | 
       | There is no way to manufacture a 2D item in 3D space.
        
       | londons_explore wrote:
       | On earth, the weatherproofing needed for solar cells by far
       | outweighs the weight of the silicon itself.
       | 
       | In space, we generally don't allow use of anything that can't be
       | tested on earth - that means the silicon has to be able to hold
       | its own weight under gravity. Therefore, it is the mechanical
       | supports that are the weight limiting factor.
       | 
       | One day, when solar cells are built, tested, and deployed all in
       | space, we can probably get rid of these limitations and see 10x
       | or more improvements in power to weight ratios.
        
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       (page generated 2023-06-17 23:01 UTC)