Converting sunlight to electricity with solar cells has an efficiency of 15%. It

Question

Converting sunlight to electricity with solar cells has an efficiency of 15%. It's possible to achieve a higher efficiency (though currently at higher cost) by using concentrated sunlight as the hot reservoir of a heat engine. Each dish in (Figure 1) concentrates sunlight on one side of a heat engine, producing a hot-reservoir temperature of 480 C . The cold reservoir, ambient air, is approximately 30 C. The actual working efficiency of this device is 30%.

Question:

What is the theoretical maximum efficiency?

Express your answer using two significant figures.

emax=%

Explanation / Answer

Use equation,

Th = 480 C = 480 +273 = 753 K

Tc = 30 +273 = 303 K

Efficiency = 1 - Tc/Th = 1- 303/753 = 0.6 = 60%

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