Scientists Just Broke the Solar Power Limit Everyone Thought Was Absolute

Re:Scientists Just Broke the Solar Power Limit Everyone Thou... by muhdeeb on Wednesday March 25, 2026 @11:25PM (#47526330)

So it seems that their definition of 100% means 1 excited state per incoming photon, and then they use a material that converts a single high energy excited state produced by one photon into 2 half as energetic excited states...but then they apply the definition that just counts any excited state per incoming photon to juice their numbers.

So more like 65% energy conversion efficiency at best.

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Re:Scientists Just Broke the Solar Power Limit Everyone Thou... by vi_sextus_vi on Wednesday March 25, 2026 @11:54PM (#47526477)

Useful idea buried under abject science-writing is that

quantum yields quantify how likely a chain reaction is. It's like r for COVID-19. One usually says "1.3", not "130%"

Quantum yields greater than 1 are possible for photo-induced or radiation-induced chain reactions, in which a single photon may trigger a long chain of transformations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_yield#:~:text=Quantum%...

Diagram from the paper showing the initiation of a light-generated "avalanche"

https://xcancel.com/YoichiSasaki1/status/2036808566011789536

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Re:Scientists Just Broke the Solar Power Limit Everyone Thou... by aitchnyu on Thursday March 26, 2026 @03:20AM (#47527542)

How did you calculate the radiation joules -> electricity joules efficiency when the scientists apparently did not?

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