Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Heat has long been a major problem for semiconductors.  Years of research produced technological leaps that have enabled computer chips to diminish in size, increase performance, and withstand the heat generated by packing circuits in impossibly cramped space.  Now, IBM is applying years of experience in semiconductors to cooling solar cells.

IBM said that its liquid-metal cooling technique, adapted from high-powered computers’ chips, could relieve roughly 75% of the heat generated by a concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) system. Through the use of lenses and mirrors, CPV arrays magnify light onto solar cells to convert light to electricity.  More light generates more electricity, and consequently – more heat.

As heat dissipation is vital for high-end processors, IBM has developed a cooling system where a thin layer of liquid metals circulates behind a chip to transfer the heat from the chip to a “cooling block.” This same technology will be used to build a prototype of the thermal interface layer on a CPV system.  Initial tests have yielded promising results.  IBM has no plans of manufacturing its own CPV devices but hopes to license its thermal interface layer to solar manufacturers.

Read [CNET]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →