IR radiation solar panel uses tiny antennas, has 80% efficiency
Source: Idaho National Laboratory
There is all sorts of ways to produce clean energy, but the smartest and cleanest of all is definitely solar panels. There is absolutely no moving parts, noise or intermediate materials. Just beautiful clean energy. The catch? Low efficiency that in reality is far from the theoretical 20%, high manufacturing costs and productivity only during daytime -preferably with lots of sunshine. The researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory are addressing all these shortcomings. By putting loads of nanoantennas on cheap base material, they manage to collect energy in infra-red frequencies by day and night.
Nanoantennas are a clever way to collect IR radiation that is very small wavelength itself. Tests started as a supplement to conventional solar panels, but progress was such that IR panel research became a project on its own. It is hoped that with nanotechnology manufacturing progress IR panels will be incredibly cheap, and as the substrate is flexible they will be installed practically everywhere. Due to intense packing of the small spirals and the fact that everything is tiny and undetectable by eye, special software will tune and arrange the pattern in ways that will not cause material damage. Panels could even be double-sided with the second face collecting the IR radiated from the earth!
The least developed part of the project is energy conversion, something that is not possible at the moment and is admittedly a headache. If the high frequency current is not converted to the 50/60 Hz we normally use or DC for battery charging, it is unusable. Researchers are on their way to address this issue by integrating in their design capacitors or diodes that will do the trick.
Although energy collection efficiency is estimated as high as 80%, when power conversion takes place it is highly unlikely that the final figure will stay so high. However, cheap manufacturing, 24/7 clean energy production and the potential for efficiencies much higher than current solar panels make IR panels a splendid proposal for our energy future. Among the daily bombardment of pessimistic global warming news and oil wars, it feels great to know that technology is on its way to providing solutions.
Link 1: Ecogeek
Link 2: Idaho National Laboratory
