autoevolution
 

New Night-Time Solar Technology Can Be Used To Generate Electricity in the Dark

Solar panels working in the dark seem like a contradiction of terms rather than a possibility. Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) found that the sun’s energy stays with us even after the sun has set. That energy can be harvested too.
New night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the dark 7 photos
Photo: yotiska Barua from Pixabay
New night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the darkNew night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the darkNew night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the darkNew night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the darkNew night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the darkNew night-time solar technology can be used to generate electricity in the dark
Renewable energy research may have taken an unexpected turn as UNSW scientists found a way to produce electricity from the so-called ‘night-time’ solar power. This is possible because the Earth stores the sun’s energy as heat during the day, radiating it during the night. This heat can be harvested as infrared light using materials usually found in night-vision equipment.

A semiconductor device called a thermoradiative diode was used to generate power from the infrared light emitted at night. The amount of energy generated this way is tiny, about 100,000 times less than what you get from a solar panel during the day. Nevertheless, the researchers believe the result can be improved in the future once they will find the best materials to convert infrared light into electricity.

Using thermal imaging cameras you can see how much radiation there is at night, but just in the infrared rather than the visible wavelengths,” says team lead, Associate Professor Ned Ekins-Daukes. “What we have done is make a device that can generate electrical power from the emission of infrared thermal radiation.”

The infrared light at night is there because the sun warmed up the Earth during the day, so technically, the process is still harnessing solar power. According to Dr. Phoebe Pearce, one of the paper’s co-authors, any flow of energy can be converted between different forms.

In the same way that a solar cell can generate electricity by absorbing sunlight emitted from a very hot sun, the thermoradiative diode generates electricity by emitting infrared light into a colder environment,” says Pearce. “In both cases, the temperature difference is what lets us generate electricity.”

The team at UNSW thinks the efficiency of the process can be significantly enhanced to produce more energy. The first photovoltaic panels only had around 2% efficiency. Still, years of honing the technology have made modern cells convert over 25% of the sun’s light into electricity. It took the PV panels industry half a century to get where it is today, so we might be in for a long journey.

The research also opens a whole new world of possibilities. One of them is powering bionic devices like artificial hearts using only body heat. But to get there, industry giants need to step in and cough up a lot of cash. Universities don’t have the necessary resources to extend the research and bring meaningful results in a timely manner.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories