Harvesting the Sun's Energy With Nanoantennas
16 March 2011
8911_large_nanoantenna1Researchers from the Idaho National Laboratory, along with partners at Microcontinuum Inc. (Cambridge, MA) and Patrick Pinhero from the University of Missouri have recently developed a new technology that could significantly increase the efficiency of traditional solar panels whilst also allowing them to produce energy after sunset.

This will be achieved through the harvesting of the infrared wavelength, which reaches the earth in great quantities, is partly absorbed by the soil during the day and then released at night. The new panels, able to collect the IR radiation are made of tiny loops of conducting metal, each as wide as 1/25 of the diameter of a human hair and can be printed onto a sheet of plastic.

Coupled with conventional solar panels the nanoantennas would be able to raise their efficiency from 20 to 46%. Working alone they could reach an efficiency up to 80%. The fact that the small circuits can be easily printed on sheets of plastic make them a cheap and sustainable alternative to traditional silicon panels.

There is still much work to do before being able to commercialize the new technology. Research is required to analyse the behaviour of patterns of nanoantennas, taking into account for example, the effects of the electromagnetic field created by the antennas entering into resonance. In the same way, researchers will have to find ways to collect and store the energy produced by the antennas, which until now, has a frequency which is too high to fit electric appliances.

This said, the research team have very promising exploratory research under way and a patent pending on a variety of potential energy conversion methods and they expect to be just a few years away from creating the next generation of solar energy collectors.

More info here.

 

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