First
Solar A research team at the University of Wisconsin in Madison has
demonstrated the viability of a design for solar panels that can
simultaneously generate and store electrons harvested from sunlight in a
single device. Like other solar panels, the new solar cells would use
some electrons…
Forbes
Self-Charging Solar Cells: Better Than Batteries?
First Solar
A research team at the
University of Wisconsin
in Madison has demonstrated the viability of a design for solar panels
that can simultaneously generate and store electrons harvested from
sunlight in a single device.
Like other solar panels, the new solar cells would use some electrons
from light created as electricity. Unlike other solar cells, the panels
would also store electrons on zinc oxide nanowires coated with
polyvinylidene fluoride polymer (PVDF). The energy stored during the day
could be used to run the lights at night or on cloudy days.
The PVDF has a high dielectric constant, which releases the stored
energy through the nanowires when the solar cell stops harvesting
energy.
The catch is that the system has only about four percent
efficiency. Given the early stage of the research, the poor efficiency
is not very surprising.
On the other hand, the implications for solar energy of an
alternative to traditional battery storage solutions seems significant –
to put it mildly.
Related on Forbes:
Anatomy of a Solar Car
1 of 18
Forbes Images
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SUNY New Paltz SunHawk solar car
SUNY New Paltz students gather around their baby, the SunHawk
solar car. In discussing the future of transportation, they were
decidedly optimistic about the prospects of electric cars and solar
power.
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Yes. I have always envisioned cars and trucks as being the primary domestic source of power for both cars and homes and even Condos or apartments. Most people don't need that much power every day. And as batteries become better and better and more efficient solar cell covered cars could be the primary generation points for electricity for homes and Condos and Apartments. And any power not used could be sold privately or given to others or sold to the local electrical grid.
The drawback of course it that solar cells only generate when the sun is out. But with good batteries the sky is the limit as efficiency of solar cells and the efficiency of batteries goes through the roof worldwide.
It might become a financial advantage for people to live where there is more sun on average during the day all year long because of this potential for earning money generating solar power through your car or other solar cell generation sites that you might own.
This is even more true in places like California and possibly Texas where the cost of generating power is on a par or cheaper to do with Solar than with any type of fuel. This is also true of China and India. And many other U.S. states are close to this point as well.
