- Solar panels typically only generate power only when the Sun is shining. However, recent developments are changing this.
- Scientists have created solar panels that work in darkness and run on rain.
- These developments could turn solar energy into a 24/7 power source, assisting in the global transition to net-zero carbon emissions.
The main issue with solar energy is that it sometimes shines. If solar panels cannot produce power in the evening or in the event of cloudy weather, what can we do to rely on them to be a 24-hour source of energy?
This is a challenge that scientists across the globe have been struggling with, and they are currently developing new ways to solve the problem.
Solar energy has been recognized as one of the best ways to provide power to some of the world’s poorest people, with the price of solar panels falling by 80% in the past ten years. The World Economic Forum reported that solar power could 2021 Energy Transition Index highlighted the power of solar to enhance the lives of people in Africa’s sub-Saharan region where 44% of people do not have access to electricity.
These three developments could make solar power more widely available in actuality.
Power from the Sun in darkness
Who says solar panels won’t function in the dark? In a groundbreaking development that promises 24-hour reliable renewable energy sources, scientists have created panels that produce electricity even after the Sun isn’t shining.
Solar panels are now capable of creating power even after sunset. Image: Unsplash/Karsten Wurth.
Conventional solar panels operate only during daylight hours, which means batteries are expensive for solar power to be utilized at night. A Stanford University team in the US has evaluated solar panels that continue creating electricity throughout the day.
Their technology makes use of the fact solar panels cool down at night. Power is created by the temperature difference between cooling panels as well as the still-warm air surrounding them. This is accomplished through a thermoelectric generator which generates electricity when the heat flows through it.
Thermoelectric generators produce electricity by utilizing the difference in temperature between solar panels cooling and the air surrounding them. Image: Applied Physics Letters
The panels were constructed with readily available components, and the team believes they could provide a constant, reliable energy source to those estimated to be 750 million worldwide that aren’t connected to electricity at night.
The thermoelectric generator boosts the output of solar panels throughout the daytime by operating in reverse, generating power when the panels get hot. According to Stanford, the team claims, it’s easy to upgrade panels that are already in this manner.
Solar panels powered by rain
The power output from solar panels that are conventionally used varies depending on the intensity of sunlight. It’s more than the sunset that reduces their effectiveness. The heavy rain and clouds reduce their effectiveness. However, scientists at Soochow University in China believe they have found a solution to this issue.
Anyone who has ever been caught amid a torrential downpour will be able to appreciate the effects of the rain that is heavy. Soochow’s team has analyzed the friction caused by raindrops falling on the solar panels and turned it into electricity.
They put the transparent layer with the nanogenerator triboelectric (TENG) on top of an ordinary solar panel. It is a TENG that transforms movement – in this instance, raindrops’ impacts on energy.
In addition to increasing power output during rainy days, friction-powered panels also generate electricity during the night when it rains. Scientists say solar panels are “an efficient approach to collect energy from the environment in different weather conditions.”
Robotic Cleaners for solar farms
As clouds and rain can block sunlight that solar panels receive and solar panels, so could dirt and dust. Studies have shown that water, dust, moss, and sand that accumulate on the surface could decrease the efficiency of solar cells by up to 85 percent.
Cleaning a large solar array is time-consuming and costly. Manual cleaning using water and a brush could cost around $2 million over ten years, in one study on the utility-scale solar plant calculates. If it’s not cleaned often enough, the grime will eventually get stuck onto the panel, reducing solar power generation.
Solar panels must be regularly cleaned to ensure the highest quality of energy generation. Image: Ecoppia
Take a step ahead of autonomous dry-cleaning robots. The robots are powered by an onboard solar cell; they operate during the night, limiting interruption on the panel. Utilizing microfibre cloths and air jets for one year, their operation has provided enough water to satisfy the requirements of 220,800 individuals.
The efficiency of the robot cleaners is tracked by a computer program that plans preventative maintenance to prevent failures. They’re already used to wash millions of solar panels at thirty large-scale solar power projects across Chile to India.