Solar panels that work at night, without sunlight
Yesterday we saw systems capable of obtaining water from the air without using the electricity grid, only with solar energy, and today we are going for solar panels that do not need sunlight, which indicates that they urgently need a name change.
It is a project by a group of researchers from Stanford, who have published an article in “Applied Letters In Physics” where they show regular commercial panels modified so that they can produce electricity at night.
Generally, solar panels use ultraviolet radiation to generate energy, but in this case it is not like that, they use the coldness of outer space, “radiation cooling”.
To achieve this, they have had to add technology to existing solar panels to take advantage of that natural effect that occurs outside at night, when bodies are cooler than the surrounding environment, generating a temperature gap that can generate energy.
A panel modified in this way manages to produce 50 milliwatts per square meter, much less than traditional solar panels, but enough to power devices that do not need much power (charging devices, night lighting, motion sensors, etc).
They are still in the research process, but are moving fast to become a commercial product in the short term. Apparently it is much more effective than obtaining energy with the light of the moon, so now only fatal time, patience and investment.
