Night Time Solar Panels – Really
Filed Under: Environmental News, Green Technology on August 20, 2009
A few years ago, I used to sell air guitars and solar clothes dryers on eBay. I had 100% feedback and happy customers. Really, I can’t make this stuff up. I sent empty envelopes with instructions on how to use the air guitar and I sent string with instructions on how to tie it to stuff so you could hang up clothes (preferably in full sunlight).
Well, this isn’t anything like that. It’s actually legitimate science. Unlike my air guitars, which were only groundbreaking because they came out before Guitar Hero was even invented.
Now, let’s examine how these things work. As you know, I write an extremely scientific blog and tend to use a lot of long, Latin-based words to describe stuff. This post will be one of those. Check it out.
Apparently, even when it’s dark, it’s not really dark. There’s light everywhere, all the time, we just can’t always see it. Usually because it’s too dark for us to see.
Following me so far?
Okay, so this invisible light that’s all around us all the time is what those fancy gizmos you might have seen that show us how our bombs can explode buildings even in the middle of the night use.
Ya, this magical light that exists in the dark, which these scientists are calling “infrared,” is there and can be harnessed. They made some microscopic nanoantennas (hey, I warned you I’d be getting all scientific) that are the diameter of 1/25th of a human hair. For a frame of reference, that’s really friggin small. These little antennas can absorb infrared energy and channel it into a flow of electrons.
So, to sum this up, these tiny little things you can’t even see absorb light you can’t see either and turn it all into 
electricity. Or, at least, they will probably do that within the next ten years.
The new type of solar panel (that’s a pretty loose use of the term) debuted at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Conference on Energy Sustainability on Thursday the 13th. The team that created it is part of the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, headed by physicist Steven Novack.
Seriously, though, this is a cool breakthrough. It promises commercial viability in 5 to 10 years and could unlock almost 24-hour solar capabilities for photovoltaic panels.
How awesome is that?
