Seemed like you were getting a lot of flack for a non-existent attack on the kid instead of thanks for sharing your knowledge. So kudos for putting it out there.

And your own website home page tells enough when you praise CFL, this explains why bloggers should be ignored regularly.

CFL contain Mercury and have to be recycled as such not go to landfill as enough of them say 10-20 will contaminate water source, LED is the lightbulb, so maybe you need to research that a bit more or just get a girlfriend.

Also, what MIT is doing is maximizing output for a given base area and. While output per unit base area for the entire array is being increased, the output of the each individual cell composing the array isn’t even close to being maximized. A latitude tilted array might have more output, but it takes up a much larger area. (Also worth noting is that 3D arrays are for more expensive per watt to purchase). Finally, in the MIT array the cells are likely linked in a parallel configuration. In Aiden’s they were linked in series. What this means is that if one array is being blocked in Aiden’s, which would have almost always been the case given his array choice, the current output of the entire array would have been decreased (Which as you so astutely noted would decrease the power output). In a parallel array this isn’t really an issue as the cells are operating independently of each other. As he was just reading the open circuit voltage, he would not have noticed this effect. I could go on even more, but I fear this post is already far too long.

Solar is an exciting area of research and we’ll hopefully continue to see improvements in the vein of MIT’s 3D arrays, maybe by individuals such as Aiden (once he’s had a little more education to enhance his already formidable creativity).

Fortunately, some brighter, more practical minds at MIT decided to find out if the kid was correct and verified that he was: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/three-dimensional-solar-energy-0327.html

Note, however, that they failed to give any credit to Aiden.

‘The seventh grader, who came up with a compelling question, designed an experiment, and gathered data for his investigation, fully met the criteria of the Young Naturalist Awards, a research-based competition that encourages students to develop their research skills by engaging in scientific investigations. But he had also made a mistake well-known to veteran scientists: he tested the wrong variable—in this case, voltage instead of power generated. A flawed experimental design, no matter how carefully executed, yields data that cannot be used to evaluate the hypothesis.

‘Although the contest judges did not recognize the error, Aidan’s interesting results—and his clear description of his methodology in his essay—led an electrical engineer to pinpoint the mistake in another process familiar to researchers: community review. In this case, Aidan’s community happened to include not just other seventh-graders but professional researchers, who were able to accurately assess his project—in itself, a credit to Aidan’s writing skills and clearly described methodology.’

http://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/news/valuable-lesson-about-variables

I know this is old news by now, but you might introduce NightRider to Isaac Asimov’s essay “The Relativity of Wrong”.

http://www.hermiene.net/essays-trans/relativity_of_wrong.html

It is one of the best answers ever written to the “science is never right” ignorance spewed by the no nothing types NightRider is exemplifying.

Assuming of course he left you an accurate email addie.

Sincerely,
Dorn

Also, consider this. There are millions of
solar arrays installed today. There are
calculators on the web that will tell you the
best angle for a fixed array anywhere in the world.
None of those calculators will tell you that
you can get more power by pointing a fixed
array in any other direction. Here in the
USA, the optimal direction is facing south.
Arrays have certainly been installed where
all or part is facing in a less optimal direction
because it’s impossible to face it the optimal
way. If those arrays produced more power, you
think by now no company that is installing them,
either residentially or commercially, would have
noticed? And if you can’t get more power by
installing 2 oe 3 panels at various differing
directions that offer more output, then extending
it to 10, 30 or 100 panels isn’t going to work
either. It doesn’t get more basic than that.