William Yuan, a Beaverton, Oregon 12-year boy, invented a new kind of solar cell that can absorb both visible and ultraviolet light.
I bet this kind of news makes you feel pretty weird about your own accomplishments so far. It sure made me. And, to scare you even further, I took a look at little Will's resume. Oh my, here goes.
Two years before finishing elementary school in 2007, he became a member of the First Lego League (FLL) and this determined him to delve into the research of nanotechnology and renewable energy. Since he realized the importance of the latter for the future, he focused his attention on the study and development of solar cells. Regular visits to Portland State University helped him with his project.
Besides that, he broadened his intellectual interests and began attending computer programming, biology, media design and mechanical engineering. Here are some of the institutions he "visits": FLL, Science Bowl, MESA (Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement), Signal to Noise, American Mathematics Competitions, Mathcounts, Chess, Geo-Bee, and the Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge. Furthermore, Yuan plays chess and piano and likes to ski, while he also has a black belt (for those under 15) in Taekwondo. From 2005 up to now, he won 17 awards for most of his interests.
Regarding his project, called "A Highly-Efficient 3-Dimensional Nanotube Solar Cell for Visible and UV Light," he has recently been granted a $25.000 scholarship for research purposes. He came up with some carbon nanotubes that help overcome the boundaries of electron movements, which doubles the efficiency of light-electricity conversion. He also designed a solar tower model, as well as a piece of software that simulates and optimizes its parameters. This optimized design allows for 500 times more light absorption than the commonly available commercial solar cells and about 9 times top-notch 3D ones.
He plans to get his invention out on the market, which will depend on its cost efficiency. Given his youth, William has an entire lifetime ahead to improve on that as well.
