An energy converter, which not only taps energy from sunlight but also from the heat emanated by the sun, might just become a significant stepping stone in the realm of green energy. Researchers from the Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, have come up with a new solar-thermal system that intends to tap both, light and heat from the sun, to produce energy. The thermal system is still in its developmental stages but has the possibility of aligning other small-scale solar inventories to convert homes and smaller buildings into micro-generators. However, the team at Wake Forest is yet to field-test the device.
This cost-effective system could produce two kinds of solar energy under one roof. It is designed with clear, thin tubes with a spray-on photovoltaic back-sheet. This kind of a photovoltaic ‘backing’ helps in converting visible sunlight into electricity. The backing also heats up specially formulated dyed oil that flows through the tubes. This hot oil is then integrated with a conventional geo-thermal heat pump, which would otherwise gather heat from under the ground.
The team at Wake Forest says that the solar-thermal system is able to collect energy which is unavailable to conventional roof-top solar systems. Apropos the team, conventional sun-light capturing
solar panels and systems only collect about 25 percent of the energy available from the sun. They don’t collect infrared light, the longest wavelengths, albeit invisible to the human eye. Conventional solar technology also functions best only at peak daylight hours, while the Wake Forest system has the potential to deliver energy throughout the day. In urban areas particularly, the new system can take advantage of the “heat island” effect, sucking energy from buildings and paved surfaces.
The system can revolutionize the way we think about solar energy and present a really efficient system which in fact cools the earth from global warming.
The researchers are also confident that the system can be made to look aesthetically pleasing. It could be engineered to look like roofing tiles by putting them in squares and integrating them on not just roofs but exterior walls and even windows. All this could go very well with the Obama Administration’s drive toward green and clean energy sources. But in the end it will be the solar-thermal system that will ride on its brilliance and simplicity towards its marketing and not any administration. As the decade begins with nature’s fury all over the planet, a solar-thermal system might just save the world.
