Steven Novack from the Idaho National Laboratories found a cheap solar panel, which is foldable and is about 80% efficient when it’s to absorbe the radiation from the sun. This is as twice as much as an conventional solar panel, made from silicone. Silicone solalr panels ar at their best, only efficient only for about 20% ( and 40% in a lab environment).

80-percent-efficiency-solar-panel-nanowiresolar-thumb Solar Panel 80% Efficient of absorbing radiation ? Works at Night? Steven Novack and the flexible solar panel.

So what’s the technology behind this? What’s the trick? The surface of the panel is coated with small nano-antennas that capture infra-red radiation. This radiation is available not only during the day, but also during the night. So this kind of solar panel can produce small amout of electricity during the night as well.

array-of-nanoantennas-solar-pannel-thumb Solar Panel 80% Efficient of absorbing radiation ? Works at Night?

Each square contains roughly 260 million antennas. Should be very cheap for the end user. Steven Novack says “the aim is to make nanoantenna arrays as cheap as inexpensive carpet.” Cool. Then everybody put this ‘carpet’ on the roof to produce electricity…..

Those nanoantenna collectors might charge portable battery packs, coat the roofs of homes and, perhaps, even be integrated into polyester fabric. Double-sided panels could absorb a broad spectrum of energy from the sun during the day, while the other side might be designed to take in the narrow frequency of energy produced from the earth’s radiated heat.

For now there is a ‘little’ problem. The electricity cannot be captured from those solar panels for now, but the researches are working on the way to be able to.

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Source : EcoGeek | Idaho National Laboratories

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