New NightShine photo voltaic panels “Sport-Changers” within the battle in opposition to local weather change! – Watts up with that?
JI Thacker reports from the front line of the climate emergency
A new prototype solar module from the Technical Institute of Copenhagen (TIC) promises to change the outlook for renewable energies.
“Until now, the daily and seasonal interruption was a killer for solar modules,” says Rickard Pierrot from TIC, one of the teams behind the invention. “Only an idiot would make solar an important part of the energy infrastructure in an industrialized country. But NightShine answers the skeptics and more. “
Pierrot got the idea for his invention while reading a story about diesel generators, which in Spain disguised themselves as solar panels to take advantage of the oversized subsidies. The scheme was only shaken when the “solar panels” continued to feed electricity into the grid at night.
“What if solar panels could work at night?” Pierrot wondered. “At first I thought of charging huge batteries and then using them to create light that would bounce back on itself. But that was a stupid idea. “He laughs and sips his soy latte. “You can just as easily send the battery power to the grid. Why illuminate the panels? “
His next idea was a true lightbulb moment. “Traditional solar panels intercept photons. Of course, the earth is opaque to photons, making the panels unusable at night. But the sun emits another type of particle that also shines through the earth at night: solar neutrinos. “
The only problem the team faced was finding a material that would intercept a particle that was extremely reluctant to interact with ordinary matter. “Neutrinos only interact with the weak force,” explains Pierrot and demonstrates a salt shaker that evades a pepper mill. “That means you have to get the neutrino extremely close to another particle before you notice it. What not many people know, however, is that while neutrinos pass through the earth, they change as they travel through the earth – a bit like the way white light turns into a rainbow when it passes through a triangular prism . “
Pierrot took up this relationship and was able to theorize a molecular structure that would be partially opaque to neutrinos, based on the exact alignment and atomic spacing of the lattice. A materials scientist at the University of Bologna produced a prototype according to this specification, which, according to Pierrot, “caught 10% of solar neutrinos in at least one of the three flavors”. He laughs. “I personally like vanilla!”
The NightShine solar panel is currently still in the test phase. The magical material may still be a trade secret, but we know it is expensive and the lifespan of the panel is uncertain. But Pierrot is confident that he is on a winner. “If we can catch 10% now, we can catch 30% in ten years. This technology has the potential to play a crucial role in the fight against global warming. Are you single by the way? You have the most incredible blue eyes! “
Pierrot’s work was funded, among others, by the EU Union Onion Growers’ Union (EUOGU).
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