Apr 5, 2022 06:22 PM
https://www.newscientist.com/article/231...e-a-phone/
EXCERPTS: At night ... solar panels radiate heat to outer space, which has a temperature of around 3 kelvin (-270.15°C), because heat travels in the direction of lower temperatures. This makes the solar panel cooler than the night air, a temperature difference that can be exploited to produce electricity.
[...] When pointed at a clear night sky, the modified solar cell generated a power output of 50 milliwatts per square metre. This is just 0.04 per cent of the power output of a regular solar cell during the daytime. But 50 milliwatts per square metre would enable low-power devices, such as a phone charger or a low-wattage LED light, to function.
While the night-time solar cells could be useful in off-grid locations for certain low-power tasks, their current performance means they are unlikely to replace existing energy infrastructure. [...] the set-up could be improved to generate more power and there are no intrinsic difficulties in one day scaling the system up to a commercial product... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://aip.scitation.org/journal/apl
EXCERPTS: At night ... solar panels radiate heat to outer space, which has a temperature of around 3 kelvin (-270.15°C), because heat travels in the direction of lower temperatures. This makes the solar panel cooler than the night air, a temperature difference that can be exploited to produce electricity.
[...] When pointed at a clear night sky, the modified solar cell generated a power output of 50 milliwatts per square metre. This is just 0.04 per cent of the power output of a regular solar cell during the daytime. But 50 milliwatts per square metre would enable low-power devices, such as a phone charger or a low-wattage LED light, to function.
While the night-time solar cells could be useful in off-grid locations for certain low-power tasks, their current performance means they are unlikely to replace existing energy infrastructure. [...] the set-up could be improved to generate more power and there are no intrinsic difficulties in one day scaling the system up to a commercial product... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://aip.scitation.org/journal/apl