SAS 2019: Larry Cooke and NovaSolix

Dean Sigler Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Laurence H. (Larry) Cooke, Chief Technology Officer for NovaSolix, a California-based solar panel manufacturer, discussed a way to make what are essentially radio waves into efficient, inexpensive solar power.  His biography includes this indicator of a productive life. “Larry “Cooke has written one book, multiple papers and have over 100 granted US patents. Cooke is currently CTO and Chairman of NovaSolix, a revolutionary Carbon Nanotube Rectenna array based solar cell start-up.” NovaSolix separates its approach to capturing solar energy from the “traditional” solar cell, solar panel method. “The Old Way” Thoughtco.com says, “Any device that directly converts the energy in light into electrical energy through the process of photovoltaics is a solar cell.”  Such devices have a longer history than your editor anticipated.  Antoine-Cesar Becquerel noted a voltage drop when light fell on a solid electrode in an electrolyte solution.  It took until 1839 for Charles Fritt to develop the first genuine solar cell, by coating semiconducting selenium with an …