As the worldwide demand for renewable energy continues to increase, scientists continue to work on technologies that will enable this transformation. In this context, a revolutionary discovery was made for solar energy, which is the most preferred type of renewable energy.
Scientists, in their new research published recently, announced that they have developed a new ‘anti-Solar panel’ that allows solar panels to produce energy at night as well. The technology makes use of infrared energy, which emerges as the earth cools at night, as opposed to the way solar panels obtain energy from the sun’s rays and thus from heat.
Infrared energy is converted into usable energy:
The newly developed technology by scientists makes use of the materials found in night vision goggles. The new technology converts infrared energy, which is released during the process of the Earth’s warming and cooling at night, into usable energy. This process is called the ‘thermoradiative’ process. Tests with the developed prototype showed that the technology can offer a small amount of energy for now.
To take advantage of this process, the special ‘mercury cadmium telluride (CTM)’ diode was able to produce about 2.26 milliwatts/square meter of energy when heated to 20 degrees. Although this energy is insufficient to heat only a glass of water, it is stated that with the development of technology, 1/10 of the energy produced by a solar panel can be produced.
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