In a paper published Monday in the journal Optics Express, a team of researchers from Stanford University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology explains that their new work focuses on a theoretical optimization of existing infrastructure for anti-solar panels: thermoelectric power generators.
These generators create electric voltage by converting the temperature differences between a heat source (say, the ambient air temperature at night) and a specially cooled surface of the generator.
While these generators do already exist, the study authors argue that they're not living up to their potential and are not sustainable options for off-grid energy generation. Lingling Fan, the study's first author and an electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, says their study aims to optimize this existing design.
"We are working to develop high-performance, sustainable lighting generation that can provide everyone -- including those in developing and rural areas -- access to reliable and sustainable low-cost lighting energy sources," explains Fan.
Fan says that a modular energy system like this could even be used to convert heat waste from cars into usable power.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/anti-solar-panels-sustainable-energy-solution
These generators create electric voltage by converting the temperature differences between a heat source (say, the ambient air temperature at night) and a specially cooled surface of the generator.
While these generators do already exist, the study authors argue that they're not living up to their potential and are not sustainable options for off-grid energy generation. Lingling Fan, the study's first author and an electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, says their study aims to optimize this existing design.
"We are working to develop high-performance, sustainable lighting generation that can provide everyone -- including those in developing and rural areas -- access to reliable and sustainable low-cost lighting energy sources," explains Fan.
Fan says that a modular energy system like this could even be used to convert heat waste from cars into usable power.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/anti-solar-panels-sustainable-energy-solution
