By John Vibes | Truth Theory
According to the most recent data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) wind and solar energy are already cheaper than traditional alternatives in two-thirds of the world, and is expected to be the cheapest option everywhere by 2030.
One of the major drawbacks of solar energy is that it can only produce energy during the day, but new research published in the journal ACS Photonics, suggests that solar panels can be built in a way that allows them to generate energy at night as well. The basic concept is that energy can be generated through the process of the heat leaving the panels and cooling down at night, this is known as radiative cooling.
In order to generate energy in this way, the team needed to develop what they call “thermoradiative cells.”
The authors of the study wrote that, “In order to produce electrical power after the sun has set, we consider an alternative photovoltaic concept that uses the earth as a heat source and the night sky as a heat sink, resulting in a “nighttime photovoltaic cell” that employs thermoradiative photovoltaics and concepts from the advancing field of radiative cooling.”
