Reverse Solar Panel Generates Electricity Without Sunlight by Emitting Heat to Cold Night Skies

Modern solar technologies are highly dependent on the rays that are beamed by the sun to our planet. The energy harnessed by solar cells embedded in the devices is converted to become electric power through this process.

In a new study, experts developed a new model that could do the functions of conventional solar panels in reverse. According to the authors, these devices could produce power by radiating heat to the colder skies of the night.

Infrared Device Generates Power During Nighttime

Australian scientists presented in their research how the concept works with standard-grade night-vision goggles to harness the power. The prototype, however, could only produce smaller amounts of electricity. But the capacity it demonstrated offers promising solutions that could work side by side with the wide-scale utilization of solar panels.

The device could perfectly work with systems based on photovoltaic systems that, like solar cell devices, could generate electricity through photons in the natural environment. One main advantage of this nighttime energy collector is that it could grab excess heat from the solar panels after functioning straight for a full day.

University of New South Wales physics specialist and co-author of the study Phoebe Pearce explained in a Science Alert report that photovoltaics is the principle commonly used to develop solar panel technologies for harnessing sunlight energies artificially.

The thermoradiative process of the new model is similar to how solar panels work, as it diverts the infrared from the warmness present in the atmosphere to the cold space outside of our planet, Pearce continued.

Atoms in materials that could move alongside heat allow electrons to process and generate small amounts of energy ripples. These low-energy waves originate from electromagnetic radiation present in the form we know as infrared light.

Thermoradiative Technology for Power Production

This little activity can produce a slow current of electricity that could be rectified through diodes or the materials that act as traffic signals for regulating the electric flow.

Specialized diodes could direct electrons through a particular circuit system. During this process, the electrons gradually lose their warmth. The diode selected for the model is mercury cadmium telluride, or MCT, which has proven its capabilities in other infrared-based functions in many innovations.

The authors heated the MCT photovoltaic detectors at around 20 degrees Celsius in the experiments. This test resulted in a surprising result of power density that scales to 2.26 milliwatts per square meter.

New South Wales School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering expert Nicholas Ekins-Daukes, who also served as lead author of the study, said in the university's press release that the current tests on thermoradiative diode were observed to produce a very small amount of power, but the real challenge is to understand how to detect data from the model.

Despite its low-pow production, the technology could still produce at least a tenth of what the solar cells can, Ekins Daukes added.

The study was published in ACS Photonics, titled "Thermoradiative Power Conversion from HgCdTe Photodiodes and Their Current-Voltage Characteristics."

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