Emerging Technology, Part 1

            This year a company by the name of Semprius created more efficient solar panels. These solar panels can convert about 34 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. Semprius said that their solar panels could compete with fossil fuel plants in some places. Semprius uses a new material that maximizes the efficiency of turning light into electricity. This new material is called gallium arsenide, and converts 34 percent light to electricity compared to silicon which only converts about 23 percent. Gallium arsenide is more expensive however, but Semprius is finding a way to cope with this problem. These solutions include shrinking the solar cells, using glass to concentrate the sunlight, and by not having to cool off the solar panels due to their size. This will hopefully lower the cost of use for solar energy. A drawback however is that the solar panels work the best under cloudless skies.

            Assumptions that can be made under this article are that solar energy may overtake fossil burning types of energy and that solar energy may start to become more prevalent in the near future. What surprised me the most in this article is that the cost of solar energy is pretty low and the new improvements to solar panels can lower the price by two cents. What also surprised me is the difference of how much more light is converted to electricity in the gallium arsenide compared to the silicon. These types of solar panels are probably not going to be seen in our area too soon and will be used more in the Southwest where there is more sun and fewer clouds. Hopefully with more improvements we will see more solar panels in our area.

Some emerging technologies that are being used now that were emerging in 2009 include Software-Defined Networking which allows researchers and computer scientists to tap into routers and control a network’s layout, Biological Machines which include the combination of robotics and living things (this also includes tissue that can replace damaged organs), and the Intelligence Software Assistant which is now used in the form of SIRI for iPhones.