Can Photo-voltaic Panels Produce Electricity from Moonlight ?

                                            I am a big advocate of solar energy and have photovoltaic solar panels on my house, allowing me to send power back to my utility when my energy production exceeds usage, which saves me a few thousand dollars per year on electricity                             Since photovoltaic panels can convert any light to energy, I wondered if they could generate electricity from moonlight (which is, after all, reflected light that originated from the sun). The answer is …

             yes,but not very much.According to eHow, the amount of energy received from the sun is about 342 Watts per square meter. Moonlight, by contracts, provides only about 1 milliWatt per square meter, 1/342 thousandth the intensity of sunlight. It is difficult to imagine how moonlight could ever be a useful source of  photovoltaic power

A New Type of Solar Panels Generates Energy even in the Moonlight

                       A Spanish firm ULMA Agrícola, which is the part of the consortium Tecnalia, has created a new type of solar panels and has installed them on greenhouses to test. The main advantage of the new invention is that it can generate heat at cold weather and cold at heat.

But this is not the only advantage of these solar panels. What is more, the system is designed to utilize the annual temperature fluctuations and it can accumulate the unused energy. In addition to their high cost, the main disadvantage of the solar cells is their low efficiency at cold weather and at night. The invention of ULMA Agrícola solves this problem in part.

To generate energy, the optical materials have been used instead of traditional mechanical ones, such as silicon oxides. It allowed to increase the efficiency of solar cells by 15%. It should be noted that these data are the preliminary results obtained after the tests during the summer and fall periods. The main goal of the inventors is to prove that this kind of energy can be utilized in winter successfully.

The solar panels are located at some distance from each other, and such position makes it possible to use spherical lenses that focus the light into a directional beam. Owing to such design, the panels can generate energy even in the bright moonlight.

           The tests are conducted on the greenhouses with the total area of 400 square meters that are located in the Spanish Basque province. According to the calculations of scientists, this is the most suitable place for extensive testing, since climatic conditions are subject to substantial changes in this region during the year. Moreover, the length of a light wave varies from 400 nm to 700 nm depending on the season, which is rather uncommon in other parts of the world. The efficiency of solar panels changes with the fluctuating of the solar radiation length. Thus, scientists may evaluate the usefulness of this system for other parts of the globe without changing the location of the experiments.

As a part of the experiment, scientists cultivate tomatoes and peppers in the above mentioned greenhouses. These vegetables require rather large amount of light for their maturing. Moreover, these crops are very widespread in many countries. The first stage of the testing has confirmed the high efficiency of this technological innovation.

RAWLEMON’S SPHERICAL SOLAR ENERGY-GENERATING GLOBES CAN EVEN HARVEST ENERGY FROM MOONLIGHT

                    The solar energy designers at Rawlemon have created a spherical, sun-tracking glass globe that is able to concentrate sunlight (and moonlight) up to 10,000 times. The company claims that its ß.torics system is 35% more efficient than traditional dual-axis photovoltaic designs, and the fully rotational, weatherproof sphere is even capable of harvesting electricity from moonlight.

The ß.torics system was invented by Barcelona-based German Architect André Broessel. He sought to create a solar system that could be embedded in the walls of buildings so that they may act as both windows and energy generators. But the project isn’t only noteworthy for its solar efficiency capabilities -  the ß.torics  system is designed to generate lunar energy too!

The spheres are able to concentrate diffused moonlight into a steady source of energy. The futuristic ß.torics system is catching a lot of attention for its clean and beautiful design. (Despite solar power’s huge potential, we haven’t seen too many beautiful solar power technologies). We’re excited to see how architects will incorporate these energy generating orbs into alternative energy agendas and future building designs!

The ß.torics system was invented by Barcelona-based German Architect André Broessel. He sought to create a solar system that could be embedded in the walls of buildings so that they may act as both windows and energy generators. But the project isn’t only noteworthy for its solar efficiency capabilities -  the ß.torics  system is designed to generate lunar energy too!

The spheres are able to concentrate diffused moonlight into a steady source of energy. The futuristic ß.torics system is catching a lot of attention for its clean and beautiful design. (Despitesolar power’s huge potential, we haven’t seen too many beautiful solar power technologies). We’re excited to see how architects will incorporate these energy generating orbs into alternative energy agendas and future building designs!

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