One of the biggest difficulties of solar cells at that time, and it still remains after so many years, is the low photoelectric conversion efficiency. The energy conversion efficiency of monocrystalline silicon solar cells used in those days has only reached about 20% now. The scene of taking a speedboat across the island and braving the scorching sun with the engineering team to adjust the angle of the solar panels is still fresh in my memory.

Why Can Distributed Photovoltaics Return to its Peak in 2022?

There are two main technical routes for solar cells: crystalline silicon (monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon) and thin-film solar cells. It is said on the Internet that distributed photovoltaics can return to its peak in 2022, which refers to a breakthrough in thin-film solar cell technology. Ultimately, it is a breakthrough in the field of materials science.

To put it simply, a thin-film solar cell COATS a layer of material that can absorb solar energy on the substrate.

Many kinds of materials have been tried before, such as graphite, gallium arsenide, cadmium telluride, and so on. Later, a mineralogist Lev Perovski studied a material called Perovskite, which is named after him.

Why Is the Industry so Excited about Perovskites?

First, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of perovskite cells has been significantly improved. At the end of 2022, the Helmholtz Center (HZB) perovskite tandem solar cell in Berlin, Germany broke the world efficiency record with a certified efficiency of 32.5%.

It has been more than ten years since perovskite was used for photovoltaic power generation, and the initial photoelectric conversion efficiency was only 3.8%. Why can the conversion efficiency be greatly improved? The reason is that a perovskite solar cell (PSC) is a type of solar cell that contains a compound of the perovskite structure. Since it is a compound, it is more flexible to mix and match materials. The most common approach is to mix organic-inorganic lead or tin halide-based materials as the light-harvesting active layer. In contrast, the material of crystalline silicon solar cells is single and can only be purified.

The advantage of perovskite solar cells is that the manufacturing process is not complicated, the cost is low, and it is easy to recycle, so the payback period is relatively shorter than investing in crystalline silicon solar cells.

But perovskites are not without their drawbacks. A notable drawback of the material is that it wears away when exposed to light, heat, moisture and oxygen after months of use, which can lead to the generation of toxic lead.

So now major manufacturers are working to reduce this toxicity.

Commercialization Process of Perovskite

Switzerland-based heterojunction solar module manufacturer Meyer Burger has signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with Switzerland-based Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) to develop tandem perovskite solar cell technology. This also includes the aforementioned Helmholtz Center (HZB), which focuses on the industrialization of perovskite stacked solar cells and modules.

Meyer Burger draws on its long tradition of proprietary development and has a broad portfolio of processes, technologies and production technologies for the potentially large-scale production of in-house tandem solar cells and modules. This includes the basic manufacturing process and mechanics of silicon-based perovskite tandem solar cells, as well as the corresponding solar modules with Meyer Burger’s proprietary SmartWire connection technology, to accelerate the commercialization of perovskite solar energy.

In the end, I would like to say that technology is constantly improving. Some problems cannot be solved in the short term, but do not be discouraged. Do what we can do. There will always be a day when the technology matures, and the significance of what we are doing now is reflected in the process of adding bricks and mortar.

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OpenAI is a nonprofit organization focused on developing artificial intelligence “in the ways that are most likely to benefit all of humanity.” It was co-founded In 2015 by Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, a well-known science and technology incubator, and Peter Thiel, Co-founder of PayPal, and the author of the best-selling book “From Zero to One” and Co-founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman. (Note: Elon Musk left in 2018.)

What Is the Difference Between ChatGPT-4 and ChatGPT-3?

ChatGPT-3 was launched last year and quickly exploded on social media around the world. What’s so special about ChatGPT-4? The current ChatGPT-3 has 175 billion parameters, while ChatGPT-4 will likely have 1 trillion parameters or more, approaching a 6x increase. ChatGPT series are capable of text response, content generation, language translation, and text summarization. The increase in parameters means that it can respond to questions raised by users faster and more accurately.

Why is Google So Nervous?

When this news came out, Google was the first to blow up. Why? According to the New York Times, the upcoming release of ChatGPT4 led Google management to announce a “Code Red”. Code Red is a computer virus discovered on the Internet on July 15, 2001. It once attacked Microsoft’s IIS web server.

In addition to the increase in the parameters just mentioned and the resulting increase in accuracy, the thing that shakes the industry is that it greatly reduces the cost of text generation. The cost will drop to half a cent for 700 words of output.

ChatGPT vs Google Search

Let’s make a comparison between ChatGPT 3 and Google Search.

ChatGPT can give concise answers directly. For example, I typed in ChatGPT-3: “What are the latest models of BYD electric vehicles?”

ChatGPT gives a very concise answer, which also introduces what kind of company BYD is, not only lists the latest models, but also briefly introduces the mileage each car can travel on a single charge, which is easy to understand. If you are interested in a specific car, you can find additional information.

Google’s search results are a bunch of links that the user needs to click on to get the information, which means it may take more time to search for the same information with Google.

Is ChatGPT-4 Really a Threat to Google?

ChatGPT first used a conversational artificial intelligence platform developed by Google engineers in 2017. In addition, Google itself has developed the LaMDA conversational neuro linguistic models. The first generation was announced at the Google I/O keynote in 2021, while the second generation was announced at last year’s I/O event in 2022. But why has Google been slow to release these technologies to the public?

It comes down to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). Google’s main consideration is social responsibility. Google has been slow to release these techniques to the public in part because LaMDA was trained on current web data. These data inevitably include some hate speech, fake news, racist/sexist speech, and a large degree of inaccurate information. This means that racism, bias and misinformation can seep into the chatbot’s learning models, so the answers it gives will inevitably include them as well.

Another reason is commercial. It is that Google has not yet found a way to integrate LaMDA with its existing advertising model. The Advertising business currently accounts for about 80% of Google’s revenue.

Do you have any concerns regarding ChatGPT-4? You are welcome to leave a comment.

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For more information about global cutting-edge technology, China’s technology strategy and entrepreneurial projects, welcome to read the recently published English book “Strategic Development of Technology in China”.

The post AI Trends 2023: Open AI GhatGPT4 vs. Google Ad Business Battle Coming Soon? first appeared on Mans International.

Where Is the World’s Largest Demonstration of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles in 2022?

This year the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics came to be the world’s largest demonstration of fuel cell vehicles. In order to ensure the low carbon operation of the event, the vehicles used for transportation services for the event in this Olympics include: hydrogen fuel vehicles, pure electric vehicles, natural gas vehicles, hybrid vehicles and traditional new energy vehicles. Among them, there are more than 1,000 hydrogen energy vehicles, equipped with more than 30 hydrogen fuel stations.

According to the Beijing Winter Olympics report, Toyota became a dedicated service vehicle for the event with its hydrogen fuel cell technology and Costa hydrogen engine. This included 140 second-generation Toyota Mirai hydrogen energy vehicles.

The hydrogen fuel cell vehicles travelled to and from the Winter Olympics venues in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing, safely driving on these roads with high hills and steep slopes with low temperatures, demonstrating their ultra-long range and low-temperature resistance. The Toyota Service Vehicle travelled a total of 397,104 kilometres, used a total of approximately 11,098 kilograms of hydrogen, and reduced CO2 emissions by 113,737.44 kilograms.

What Are the Advantages of Hydrogen Energy?

According to Mr. Peng Tianfang’s “Hard Science and Technology Report”, the three main advantages of hydrogen energy include:

1. Hydrogen energy is a fuel with higher energy density. Fuels with higher energy density tend to be more cost-effective for industry. One of the key reasons why oil replaced coal is that its energy density is 1.5 times that of coal. Hydrogen produces 3 times the energy of the same weight of oil and 4 times that of coal.
2. Hydrogen energy is very flexible to use and is highly efficient. Oil is typically used at a maximum efficiency of 30–40 percent. Hydrogen energy has a very high conversion rate, with 90 percent of the energy being converted into electricity. The fuel cell is very flexible to use, the volume can be large or small, and the small one can be used as a mobile phone battery.
3. Hydrogen energy may be one of the most environmentally friendly energy sources known, and its combustion product is water, which truly achieves zero emissions.

Which Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Is More Cost-Effective?

After being highlighted by the Winter Olympics, I checked that the relatively more cost-effective hydrogen fuel cell vehicle on the market is Toyota’s Mirai. The first generation of the Mirai was launched in 2014 as one of the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

The second-generation Toyota MiraiI went on sale in Japan in April 2021. The second generation is also available in North America, with prices starting from $50,065.

According to Toyota’s official statement, it only takes 3 minutes to refuel with hydrogen for 650 km, more than Tesla Model S (425 km). Such supply efficiency is comparable to that of gas stations, killing charging stations in seconds. In addition, Toyota offers the same 8-year or 160,000 km warranty for the Toyota Mirai as it does for other models, and covers the hydrogen fuel cell warranty.

I was so excited to follow the address on Google map to the hydrogen fuel station, ready to learn more about it before placing an order, but it turned out that the station in Toronto was closed. Currently, only Vancouver has several hydrogen fuel stations in Canada.

Why Is the Penetration Rate of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Not High So Far?

There are many advantages of hydrogen energy vehicles, why is the penetration rate not high so far?

This is a chicken-and-egg problem. According to the 14th annual assessment by Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST), an international expert advisor on sustainable energy and mobility, 142 new hydrogen fuel stations were built worldwide in 2021. There are currently 685 hydrogen fuel stations in operation worldwide.

In Europe, Germany tops the list with 101 stations out of 228. Asia has the largest number of hydrogen fuel stations with 363, Japan (195), China (105) and South Korea (95). China’s hydrogen fuel stations are almost exclusively used for bus or truck fleets. The majority of the 86 hydrogen fuel stations in North America are in California, USA, with 60 stations. Vancouver has 5 hydrogen fuel stations.

To be continued.

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The post What's New in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles? KellyOnTech ESG Series first appeared on Mans International.