Despite attending Egypt’s Bani-Suef University as a student of commerce, 24 year-old Mohamed Gooda’s passion has always been for science. Having pursued his interest in physics in his spare time, he’s come up with a theoretical method of improving upon the efficiency of the photovoltaic solar cells currently in use the world over. He believes that, if widely implemented, his theory for a new method of converting solar radiation into electricity, using lasers, could afford Egypt a high level of energy independence.
Given that Egypt receives over 3,000 hours of sunlight a year in some regions, it’s not unreasonable to think that a revolutionary new form of solar cell could indeed lead to a radical change in the profile of Egypt’s energy consumption. But just how are these new cells supposed to work?
Whereas a standard photovoltaic solar cells’ functionality depends on the photoelectric effect (also known as the Hertz effect), whereby chemical elements that have ‘easy going’ electrons at their outer electron shell convert luminous energy into electricity, Mohamed’s proposes a different model of generating energy from sunlight. He theorises that it’s possible to generate solar power using a similar method to the stimulated emission of electrons that powers lasers.
He explains: “The idea of my invention is based upon the concept of “Stimulated Emission of Electrons”, a theoretical physics expression which first appeared in 1999 in a research that was conducted by three scientists and got published in the “Brazilian Journal of Physics”. The expression is concerned with a kind of solid matters which are able to stimulate the secondary electrons in a range between zero and 50 volts.
“This new solar cell uses the similar mechanism of how laser works through stimulated emission of electrons, yet, it’s based upon electrons and not photons like in laser. This takes place through special organising of the properties of the Cesium solar cell,” he says.
According to Gooda’s calculations, this will enable his cells to operate at 70% efficiency, a noteworthy claim that given that current cells are only able to convert 40% of their solar input into usable power.
Furthermore, he soon hopes to be able to increase the range of light waves that his ‘laser’ panels are able to utilise: “I’ll start trying to advance my new laser solar cells to make them able to absorb and benefit from additional five types of spectrum, beside the already used visible light. This is actually a revolutionary idea which is still being experimented in some physics labs which aim to make use of 3 types of spectra beside the visible light of sunlight.”
Unfortunately, despite having presented his invention to the National Academy of Scientific Research and Technology to date Gooda has not been able to find an Egyptian manufacturer willing to get production rolling, but hopes he can advance the idea to research teams working on solar energy products in north Africa in conjunction with the EU.
I would like to thank you for shedding light on my idea ..I hope one day to apply and benefit people ISA.
Mohamed Guda
70% efficiency sounds amazing over the current 40%. Steve – do you know why noone was interested in manufacturing this if the product is so great? It seems a bit strange to me.