yeah all of that is energy loss. its why a 100% efficient panel is impossible and really why any electrical device is not 100% efficient. Its do to energy loss as heat.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Yeah, obviously. It's a part of how it generates electricity though. It's a core part of it absorbing the light. Yes, all heat leaving the system is lost energy, and this is true regardless of the format of energy generation and/or use. But if the PC panel isn't heating up then it isn't working, because absorbing the light makes the molecules more energetic, which is heat, and I think it's part of the process of electricity generation.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

yeah its just if we can get insanely high efficiencies the heating would be minimal. Honestly I seem to recall someone has a thing that figures out the highest possible efficiency for solar panels and it was below 90%. Theoretically you can redirect heat to. Like there was a thing that transformed light wavelengths to one that allows it to go off to space. Im not sure what happened to that technology but it was for cooling.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not solar panels, but NightHawkInLight has a bunch of videos on paints that get sub-ambient by radiating heat into space. That's reflecting light though, so it is light that the panel isn't absorbing, but it might be worth the tradeoff if they're producing too much heat. It wouldn't work for vertical windows though, because it requires it to be pointing up. It'd work for skylights and horizontal panels though.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

oh thanks. I was unaware that thing required it to point upwards. Makes sense I guess. end up heating your neighbors house maybe.