It probably goes without saying, but none of the electricity provided by solar panels last year was generated at night. That doesn’t have to be the case, according to new research.
Stanford University researchers modified commercially available solar panels to create a small amount of electricity at night by utilizing a technique known as radiative cooling, which relies on the chilly vacuum of space, no lie. The findings were published in the journal Applied Letters in Physics in early April.
Shanhui Fan, the project’s chief researcher, said, “We tend to think of the sun as the most important renewable energy resource.” “The cold of space is also a valuable renewable energy source.”
While the modified panels produce a small quantity of energy compared to a standard solar panel during the day, the researchers believe that energy could be beneficial at night when energy demand is lower.
The modified solar panels do not create solar electricity at night, technically speaking. The researchers introduced technology that uses radiative cooling instead of sunlight (or starlight or moonlight, which still doesn’t work).
When an object is facing the sky at night, it radiates heat into space, causing it to become cooler than the surrounding air temperature. This effect could be useful for cooling buildings, but the temperature differential could also be used to create power.
Fan, an electrical engineering professor, and his colleagues modified a commercial solar panel to do just that, and they were able to generate a modest quantity of electricity at night.
At night, the upgraded panel produced 50 milliwatts per square meter. While this is significantly higher than prior generations of the technology, it is still significantly less than what a commercial solar panel can generate during the day. For one commercial solar panel, a back-of-the-envelope calculation yields close to 200 watts per square meter. One thousand milliwatts equals one watt.
“So, this is a lot lower,” Fan explained. “However, it could be advantageous for some low-power density applications.” Nighttime lighting, charging devices, and keeping sensors and monitoring equipment online are examples, according to Fan.
Fan further stated that: the changes were made to commercial solar panels, implying that the technology might be extensively used. He also stated that by bettering the design, more electricity might be produced.
To read our blog “JinkoSolar and Zonergy struck a 50MW solar panels module distribution agreement in Pakistan,” click here
