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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