'Solar power generation system that can operate 24 hours' is devised

by Chelsea

While climate change such as global warming due to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions is being viewed as a problem, renewable energy sources such as solar power generation are attracting attention as an alternative to fossil fuels. However, the disadvantage is that solar power can only operate during the day when the sun is out. Meanwhile, a new photovoltaic power generation system was devised that could continue to generate power even at night.

Nighttime Photovoltaic Cells: Electrical Power Generation by Optically Coupling with Deep Space | ACS Photonics
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.9b00679

Anti-solar cells: A photovoltaic cell that works at night-ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200129174512.htm

Variant of photovoltaic power could generate 24 hours a day | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/variant-on-photovoltaic-power-could-generate-24-hours-a-day/

Normal solar cells generate electricity when exposed to light. However, if the infinite light source of the sun disappears at night, power generation will not be possible, so it is a fatal disadvantage that the efficiency will be worse than other power generation systems that can keep the turbine running with fuel was.

Jeremy Monday, a researcher at the University of California at Davis , claims that power generation systems using ' thermal radiation cells ' can create a solar power system that can operate 24 hours a day.

Thermal radiation cells apply the phenomenon of ' radiant cooling ', which lowers the temperature by emitting electromagnetic waves to a high-temperature object around it. Application of radiant cooling to power generation has been studied, such as converting excess heat from engines and servers into electric power, and has recently attracted attention as a low-cost power generation system.

Successful LED light lighting with a thermoelectric generator that can be made for about 3000 yen, surprising possibility for power generation using radiant cooling-gigazine

The heat radiation cell devised by Mr. Manday et al. Generates power by conventional solar power generation during the day, but at night it emits infrared radiation by radiative cooling to generate power, theoretically generating power for 24 hours It is possible to continue to do.

According to Mundy's calculations, modern technology to build a thermal radiation cell can produce between 2 and 8 watts of electricity per square meter at night. Compared to a typical solar panel generating 200 watts per square meter during the day, nighttime power generation is much smaller, but still one day more than a conventional solar-powered system. Mundy estimates that total power generation will increase by 12%.

According to Manday, 'new devices using thermal radiation cells have the opposite direction of current and voltage to solar cells, but emit infrared light to enable night-time power generation. We use different materials, but the underlying physics is the same. '