Re: Carnot efficiency and solar cells, etc.

Edward Green wrote:
On Apr 13, 6:39 pm, Eric Gisse <jowr...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Apr 13, 6:00 am, Edward Green <spamspamsp...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[...]

http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/0022-3727/33/22/320/d02220.ps.gz

Good thermodynamics treatment right there. However, the whole point is
that the Carnot cycle /does not apply/ because the processes are
simply not the same.

I did suggest roughly how a solar cell could be incorporated into a
heat engine to show that it has the same efficiency bounds. The OP's
Q was close enough to field. Obviously a photovoltaic cell is not the
same as a gas working between T_hot and T_cold -- anybody can see that
much!
The efficiency bound is the same only in the sense that it is between
0 and 100%. There is no relation in the mechanism so comparisons are
a waste of time.
.

Quantcast