ANTI SOLAR CELLS

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I could do with something like that,

My Original Idea was to mount 6 X 150w panels on the roof of the Camper I went to buy but because I bought a different vehicle I need to rethink the whole idea,

I can fit 2 of my 115Ah batteries plus the 2 portable 40Ah lithium batteries so I can run what ever I like plus I have a 2000w Genny But I need to sort out some new Solar panels, Maybe a 300w folding panel might be on the cards :inlove:
 
I think this is how:
Generating power by radiating heat

There's another kind of device called a thermoradiative cell that generates power by radiating heat to its surroundings. Researchers have explored using them to capture waste heat from engines.

"We were thinking, what if we took one of these devices and put it in a warm area and pointed it at the sky," Munday said.

This thermoradiative cell pointed at the night sky would emit infrared light because it is warmer than outer space.

"A regular solar cell generates power by absorbing sunlight, which causes a voltage to appear across the device and for current to flow. In these new devices, light is instead emitted and the current and voltage go in the opposite direction, but you still generate power," Munday said. "You have to use different materials, but the physics is the same."
 
I guess there is some truth in it. Back in the early 90's a workmate and I imported a container load of Solar hats that had a little solar panel on the front, with a small fan in the peak. They are pretty common place nowadays, but we were the first to bring them in, having sourced them through a publication called "The Asian Business Weekly" (or something like that), that at that time was printed on rice-paper and was mostly in Chinese and Chinglish.

Anyway, we flogged them on TV on the Roy Hampson Show, Izzy Dye advertized them late at night, and we also flogged them through what then was one of the few Solar products shops in Brighton Vic.

It used to amuse me that if I put one on late at night and the moon was bright, the little fan would start spinning. So, I guess seeing as the moon can only be seen because it is reflecting the sun, there may in the long term be some merit in harnessing solar power at night, especially for low power appliances. :sunny: :idea:

I realize though that what they are talking about in this article is a different method, but I'm sure as fossil fuels deplete and we get more desperate over the coming centuries, we will have to find more ways to produce the energy for our needs.
 
How would heat radiated into space from a panel at night continue to generate power when it would quickly cool down to the surrounding ambient, possibly a minus figure.
I have also heard that conventional solar panels will generate power from moonlight.
I suspect that article was published around 2 months premature :D
 
radiating to outer space?
call bull :poop: on this one.
The panel would only be radiating heat to the air around it, depending on the temp difference, & when it matches temperature with the air it will stop radiating any heat.
 
Perhaps this explains something?

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But it's not difficult to produce small electrical currents. The problem is finding some way to produce power that doesn't cost more than the power is worth. Even a crystal produces power sufficient for those little radios we used to carry about. Where does that power come from?
 
Moneybox said:
But it's not difficult to produce small electrical currents. The problem is finding some way to produce power that doesn't cost more than the power is worth. Even a crystal produces power sufficient for those little radios we used to carry about. Where does that power come from?

Built a few of the crystal radios you mention Phil when I was a kid, so that's a long time ago. ;)
Just googled how to build a crystal radio. They mention diodes etc etc, nothing like that back in the early days.

Solar panels, my understanding the reason there are blocking diodes in the circuit is to stop "discharge" through the night?
Maybe someone can give a reason?
 
All warm matter gives off Infrared Energy during the day or night.
That's why the earth cools at night, radiating energy back into the cosmos, whilst only receiving very little.
Accumulated energy in the form of heat during the day could be converted back (inefficiently) into some short lived electrical energy during the colder hours, but it is far more economical to generate power from the incoming solar radiance during the day.
So, I call bull :poop:
 

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