We know that fossil fuels will slowly run out in the near future. For this reason, electricity is being used all over the world, not only in automobiles, but also in almost all electronic devices. For this reason, although it can only produce energy during the day, the interest in solar panels is quite high. This demand is expected to increase gradually in the coming years. It is stated that various studies have been carried out for the solar panel that produces electricity at night.
How does the solar panel that generates electricity at night work?
In a study led by Sid Assawaworrarit, an electrical engineer and PhD candidate at Stanford University, solar panel developments that generate electricity at night turned out to be successful. So how did they achieve this?
Assavorrarit and its working group say they have developed a device that helps regular solar panels generate electricity using fluctuating temperature in the air. In other words, they can operate the solar panels in a kind of reverse. Because these panels emit infrared radiation even in the absence of light.
This radiation also takes the form of protons that carry heat from the solar panel through wavelengths invisible to the human eye. On a clear day, this heat transfer creates a temperature difference of several degrees. This actually powers the device developed by Assavorrarit.
This device, called a thermoelectric generator, captures the heat between the hot air and the solar panel and converts it into energy easily. Assavorrarit’s team says they are now able to achieve around 50 milliwatts per square meter of solar panel with this technology. This actually corresponds to a small fraction of the amount of electricity a panel can produce during the day (150W per square meter on average).
But engineers claim that with properly positioned systems and a few minor improvements (by using an aluminum plate to reduce the amount of heat that can escape from the edges of their panels), they can already surpass this data. He even says that second prototypes could produce several watts per square metre. This makes them the most efficient of any comparable nighttime electricity generating solar panel systems developed by other companies.
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