Solar Power: The Future of Energy

Solar power is one of the most abundant and natural sources of energy that we have. Every day, the sun rises and shines its light on us, offering us heat and electricity.

One of the most abundant and natural sources of energy that we have is solar power. Every day, the sun rises and shines its light on us, offering us heat and electricity.

Even isolated, remote, and rural areas can take advantage of this energy source, given that most areas on this planet get sunlight to some extent. There isn't even a need for a lot of this inexhaustible source of energy; less than 10% of solar energy is enough to help us meet global energy demands.

As a renewable energy source, it does not create any harmful greenhouse gas emissions while being well-suited to the electricity grid and batteries.

The usage of sunlight isn't entirely new. Humans were using sunlight as early as the 7th century BC to light fires by reflecting the rays of the sun onto shiny objects.

However, technological advancements have made capturing sunlight to generate electricity and then storing it for later use highly efficient.

Solar technologies capture electromagnetic radiation, which is the light emitted by the sun, and turn it into useful forms of energy. Two main types of solar energy technologies are photovoltaics (PV), utilized in solar panels, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP).

Solar panels are currently the most popular means of producing electricity from solar energy. The PV panels have a useful lifespan of 20-25 years, and minimal maintenance is required once they have been installed, apart from some periodic cleaning.

Usually made from a semiconductor material like silicon, when the material is exposed to photons of sunlight, it releases electrons and produces an electric charge. This charge generates an electric current, which is seized by solar panels and then an inverter converts it to alternating current (AC), which is used to power your devices.

The photovoltaic (PV) effect was actually discovered decades ago in 1839 when French physicist Edmond Becquerel was experimenting with a cell made of metal electrodes in a conducting solution and found the cell to be generating more electricity when exposed to light.

Then, in 1954, PV technology was born with the development of the silicon PV cell, which could absorb and convert the sun's energy into power to run everyday electrical equipment.

Today, solar energy systems are integrated into not just homes and businesses but have become an important mix of renewable energy sources to provide power supply.

Solar energy actually has the potential to significantly reduce electricity, generate backup power by pairing it with storage, contribute to a resilient electrical grid, operate on both small and large scales at similar efficiency, and create jobs and spur economic growth.

Meanwhile, in terms of cost, besides the obvious hardware costs, there are also soft costs such as permitting, financing, and installing solar, along with other operational expenses of such companies, which affect the price of solar energy.

While solar energy has tremendous benefits, the challenge remains in terms of intermittency. The amount of sunlight available, after all, varies by time, location, and season.

For instance, photovoltaics generate energy primarily in the middle of the day when the sun is the brightest. While more efficient and reliable storage systems have allowed us to use this energy source throughout the day, even when the sun has set or it's cloudy, researchers are even looking at better alternatives.

Back in 2022, researchers from The University of New South Wales (UNSW), made a major breakthrough in this sphere, which allowed them to produce electricity from solar power even during the night-time. This tech is now being taken to space.

So, two years ago, in May, a UNSW team made this major breakthrough in renewable energy technology by producing electricity from solar power at night.

The team of researchers from the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) produced electricity from heat emitted by Earth as infrared light (IL), much like it cools at night by radiating into space.

For this, the team created a semiconductor device called a thermoradiative diode. A diode is a semiconductor device that allows current to flow in one direction while restricting it in the other. They convert alternating current (AC) into pulsating direct current (DC).

A thermoradiative diode (TRD) meanwhile produces electricity by emitting IL. It can generate power from any warm surface and hence, carries the ability to provide solar power at night. The thermoradiative diode by the team was made up of materials used in night-vision (NV) goggles in order to generate electricity from the emitted infrared light.

As for the power capacity, it was very small, at 100,000 times less than what is supplied by a solar panel. Despite that, the researchers believed that the result could be improved in the future. According to team lead Associate Professor Ned Ekins-Daukes:

“We have made an unambiguous demonstration of electrical power from a thermoradiative diode.”

He explained how by using thermal imaging cameras we can see the amount of radiation at night. However,