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Solar snake oil

Oh dear, the snake-oil merchants are at it again and this time they're promising physics-defying levels of solar power generation.

The company is Wavja and their product is their Photon Energy System.

You know there's snake oil in the air when you start reading the claims made for this technology. Claims such as "60 times the power efficiency of current solar panels".

Yeah, the claims made for this tech really are as physics-defying as that, and more!

The Wavja website offers a window to the outrageous claims made by this company.

However, the promotional video is perhaps the most entertaining example of "beyond belief" that I've seen in quite some time:

The first whiff of a scam can be seen just 15 seconds into the video where there's a chip with 'AI' boldly printed on it. Those perpetrating these scams know that AI is where the money is at these days so they have to imply that their system is in some way harnessing the power of AI.

I'm sorry but even AI can't bend the laws of physics in the way this product claims to. However, I fear there are plenty of stupid investors who may be blinded by the opportunity to invest in an AI-related technology in the hope of reaping rich rewards, as promised by this tech.

At about a minute into the video the very bold claim is made that this PES system is over 200 times more efficient than conventional solar arrays. Let's do some math!

Traditional solar PVAs can convert the sun's radiation into electricity with around an efficiency of around 20 percent. LG, for instance, claim 18.6 percent for their popular range of commercial/domestic PVAs.

What is 200 times 20 percent?

OMG... that's 4000 percent efficiency!!!

For PES to deliver on this claim this must be an over-unity technology and that means: perpetual motion is now possible.

For example, sunlight delivers around 1Kw per square metre to the surface of the planet. A traditional solar array will harness about 200W of that energy and deliver it as electricity. If PES is 200 times more efficient then that same area will deliver 40KW of electrical energy and it would require just a fraction of that to produce a luminence equivalent to the sun over that 1 square metre area, meaning that the extra (over-unity) energy could be used for whatever you want.

Forget fusion generators, this thing has solved the planet's energy problems using a lightbulb and a cheap, faceted plastic sphere. And yes, it does work with "artificial light including LED light" because they say so at about 1:20 in the video and offer a demonstration to boot.

But wait... it gets better!

Ten seconds later in the video we're told that the third generation of this tech is not just 20 times better but will actually deliver 60 times more power than the same sized solar panel!

TAKE MY MONEY!

Unfortunately my spidey senses are tingling hard by the time we get to the two minute mark in that video. What the presenter describes as a "power meter" is actually just a digital multi-meter with no power measuring function -- it only does volts and amps individually, not simultaneously as would be required to display the power.

It's worth noting that the relatively high level of ambient lighting was only producing just over half a volt, pretty damned poor. Then they talk about "charging the system". WTF? I thought this was a photovoltaic generator, since when do PVAs need "charging"?

Suddenly we're told there's a power-bank involved... but earlier in the video it was clearly stated that no battery is required with PES. Make your damned mind up girl!

At 2:30 in the video we see something truly amazing... a powerbank charging a tablet.

FFS... that's what power banks do!

Surely, if this system was capable of delivering 60 times the output of a solar panel then there would be no need to charge the powerbank first. That PES should be quite capable of charging the tablet directly.

Inhale deeply... ah... let the rich aroma of snake oil fill your lungs.

Like all good scams, they go on to tap into the world-wide investor interest in other technologies -- such as electric vehicles, flying cars, flying taxis etc. Oh yes, try to convince the gullible tat these other technologies somehow will benefit from your wonderful PES device and investors will line up to throw money at you.

I had to giggle at 3:45, where they show how the PES can power an EV. The demonstration consists of simply placing a few of their plastic globes on the bonnet of a hydrogen-powered car -- not even connected in any way -- yet they use the term "attached". I guess they're talking about some velcro or something and the energy is delivered wirelessly? (haha).

Oh, but wait... that's just a "proof of concept", we're told that when implemented, those spheres will actually sit beneath the hood. Gosh darn it, they're so good they don't even need to be exposed to the sun to work. I guess efficiencies of 12000% will allow for that sort of convenience eh?

In the delightful diagram shown at around 4:20, we see how the PES will power buildings -- but hang on -- is that a battery I see in the diagram? What happened to the earlier statement that PES doesn't need a battery?

How many contradictions, lies and outrageous claims can they really fit in a five and a half minute video?

By the five minute mark, these little plastic spheres are all set to prevent the gulf stream from halting and they're about to save the world from climate catastrophe. How could you not invest in something that will single-handedly save our planet?

How the hell does anyone believe this crap?

I must also have my obligatory groan about YouTube.

When I suggested in a video, a few years ago during the depths of the pandemic, that people should have the right to decide whether or not the vaccine was for them, my video was removed and a strike awarded for "medical misinformation". Yet here we are today and companies like this are allowed to blatantly pedle snake-oil like this with impunity. Hell, the video is even monetized!

Crazy world.

Carpe Diem folks!

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