Solar Electricity... At Night!
(LensEnvy photo.)
Last week's NPR "Talk of the Nation" covered the development of cheap, thin flexible sheets of "nanoantennae" that capture infrared rays from the sun— day or night. When the sun sets, stored energy continues to be emitted from the earth's surface for hours afterward, and these sheets capture that energy.
The main challenge to putting these into production is the the frequency of the energy to be captured currently exceeds the available frequencies of electrical circuits. Once that challenge is overcome, they anticipate 40-45% efficiency (that's 80-92% efficient for the antennae themselves, times 50% efficient in converting the energy to a lower frequency). That compares quite favorably with 12-20% efficiency for current photovoltaics.
How much would the sheets cost? About $.50 to $1.00 per square foot— cheaper than most carpeting. It's a resource with incredible potential to revolutionize our energy production.
How much money would development of the necessary electronics cost? Dr. Steven Novack of the Idaho National Laboratory estimates "$5 to $15 million." As host Ira Flatow commented, "That's not very much money!"
So what are we waiting for?
The video for this technology is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fuofnZM5eE&feature=related
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