Solar Panel Question

jayem · Jun 3, 2021

Chesterton said:
So aside from eventual wear and tear (even though minimized) what will make the clock stop working?

I'm told that it should work for 20 years before it needs servicing due to wear and tear. My clock is close to 50 years old (based on the serial number.) I got it 2+ years ago at a bargain price because it was never maintained and wasn't working. It took 5 months to get the parts from Switzerland and get it refurbished (which wasn't cheap.) The guy who fixed it said that if it's placed in an area where the temperature doesn't change, then it won't work. Because it depends on temperature variation to keep the mainspring wound. He said that recently built homes, that are well insulated and energy efficient, are more likely to have uniform temperatures in the living areas. So the clock won't work well. My house dates from the early 60s. It's not energy efficient by today's standards. Room temperatures can fluctuate up and down, and the clock has worked without problems for nearly 2 years. So far. :oldthumbsup:

Edited to add: If you're interested, here's the Wiki article on the Atmos clock.

Atmos clock - Wikipedia

sjastro · Jun 3, 2021

As explained by other posters this will not work because the theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell is around 34% for semiconductors.
This was worked by your run of the mill white supremacist (the only example of a racist doing something useful) William Shockley.
A photon needs to not only knock out a valence electron but the electron needs sufficient energy to reach the conduction band of the semiconductor where it becomes an conduction electron to form a current.
If the bandgap is too high most photons cannot be absorbed; if it is too low, photons have much more energy than necessary to excite electrons across the band gap, and energy is wasted as heat.

shockley%E2%80%93queisser-limit-theoretical-maximum-solar-cell-efficiency.-in-science-the-shockley%E2%80%93queis.jpg

Chesterton · Jun 3, 2021

jayem said:
I'm told that it should work for 20 years before it needs servicing due to wear and tear. My clock is close to 50 years old (based on the serial number.) I got it 2+ years ago at a bargain price because it was never maintained and wasn't working. It took 5 months to get the parts from Switzerland and get it refurbished (which wasn't cheap.) The guy who fixed it said that if it's placed in an area where the temperature doesn't change, then it won't work. Because it depends on temperature variation to keep the mainspring wound. He said that recently built homes, that are well insulated and energy efficient, are more likely to have uniform temperatures in the living areas. So the clock won't work well. My house dates from the early 60s. It's not energy efficient by today's standards. Room temperatures can fluctuate up and down, and the clock has worked without problems for nearly 2 years. So far.

Edited to add: If you're interested, here's the Wiki article on the Atmos clock.

Atmos clock - Wikipedia

Alright, let me reform the question: why isn't the Atmos clock a perpetual motion machine?

Ponderous Curmudgeon · Jun 3, 2021

Chesterton said:
Alright, let me reform the question: why isn't the Atmos clock a perpetual motion machine?

because as stated, it requires energy input to make it work, just like any other machine.

Chesterton · Jun 3, 2021

Ponderous Curmudgeon said:
because as stated, it requires energy input to make it work, just like any other machine.

What is the input?

Ponderous Curmudgeon · Jun 3, 2021

Chesterton said:
What is the input?

heat in the form of a temperature differential.

durangodawood · Jun 4, 2021

AV1611VET said:
It would quickly go extinct, since what you're demonstrating is evolution.....

False, as the evolution of life on earth takes place in a non-closed system.

AV1611VET · Jun 4, 2021

durangodawood said:
False, as the evolution of life on earth takes place in a non-closed system.

If it was open, where is the energy source?

You'd think something bathing this planet in that much energy would be detected by now, wouldn't you?

durangodawood · Jun 4, 2021

AV1611VET said:
If it was open, where is the energy source?

You'd think something bathing this planet in that much energy would be detected by now, wouldn't you?

Gosh, I think youre right.

Chesterton · Jun 4, 2021

Ponderous Curmudgeon said:
heat in the form of a temperature differential.

Where did you get that info from? From what I've read it's powered by the expansion and contraction of the ethyl chloride.

Ponderous Curmudgeon · Jun 4, 2021

Chesterton said:
Where did you get that info from? From what I've read it's powered by the expansion and contraction of the ethyl chloride.

Which expands and contracts according to the temperature in the room.

Chesterton · Jun 4, 2021

Ponderous Curmudgeon said:
Which expands and contracts according to the temperature in the room.

Okay, I guess you're technically correct, but I wouldn't think of naturally occurring temperature as an external input anymore than I'd think of naturally occurring gravity or magnetism as such.

essentialsaltes · Jun 4, 2021

AV1611VET said:
If it was open, where is the energy source?

You'd think something bathing this planet in that much energy would be detected by now, wouldn't you?

I always assumed that joke was apocryphal.

AV1611VET · Jun 4, 2021

essentialsaltes said:
I always assumed that joke was apocryphal.

I'm impressed.

It's refreshing to know that someone knows when I'm being serious, and when I'm joking.

Ophiolite · Jun 4, 2021

Chesterton said:
Okay, I guess you're technically correct, but I wouldn't think of naturally occurring temperature as an external input anymore than I'd think of naturally occurring gravity or magnetism as such

Then, with respect, you are not thinking of the problem with the necessary clarity. In what way is a temperature increase in the room not an external input? (Hint

: it is an external input.)

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