this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2025
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Futurology

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One of the things that sometimes goes unappreciated about renewables is that they are a technology, not just an energy source. As such, they are subject to the same improvements humans make with technology. Coal and oil long ago reached maximum energy extraction efficiency, and any gains now are minimal.

Hydrogel.

Solar panels lose efficiency as they heat up. The new gel absorbs water from the air at night, and cools by "sweating" it during the day. In tests, this has given a 12% relative boost in power conversion efficiency. The gel may even extend the panel's lifetime. However, there are questions about how this gel will be used over the 20-30-year lifetime of a panel.

Double-Sided Panels.

Tongwei has achieved a record 91.7% bifaciality in their solar panels, meaning the back of their panels is 91.7% as efficient as the front. This is significant because they've done it with cheaper technology that was supposed to be inferior. Most installations see about 10-20% more power from bifacial panels. The exact amount depends heavily on the setup.

Hydrogels keep solar panels cool, efficient, and durable

Tongwei achieves 91.7% bifaciality factor for 722 W TOPCon solar module

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This is a common problem in the evaluation of almost everything I find. I always assume that any technology will improve with time whether in ways that are perceptible or imperceptible but increase efficiency. Most people seem to be unable to make that assumption and simply judge things as they are at the very moment. I guess it is somewhat pragmatic but it is unreasonable, every technology, even the most primitive we still find ways to improve.

In the sense of renewables, it will soon be common sense and economic reality that it is superior to non renewables, if not for the fact that extracting the resource is a much more passive and less labor intensive activity than extracting coal or oil out of the ground. We were held back by the cost of the tech but advances in efficiency and recycling of materials has made them the sensible economic choice.

But the oil mongers won’t go out without a fight: where I live they are putting a tax on the sun itself because imagine someone just being able to generate their own energy off the grid like that, anarchy!