Solar power is enjoying a surge of interest lately, due to the nuclear crisis in Japan, rising gas prices and concerns over global climate change. Yet, the cost of solar still deters some people from converting from grid-based electricity.
Solar energy is all around us - can we capture it without solar cells?
What if it was possible to generate solar energy without solar cells? In other words, could we harness the power of the sun for our use without having to pay for bulky PV solar panels? According to a recent Forbes Blog post by Alex Knapp, solar technology could take a big step forward relying on breakthrough research at the University of Michigan. Using magnetic properties of light at just the right intensity, Professor Stephen Rand and his associate, William Fisher, have discovered electrical voltage can be generated without needing solar cells.
Light has electric and magnetic components. Until now, scientists thought the effects of the magnetic field were so weak that they could be ignored. What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not conduct electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected. Under these circumstances, the magnetic effects develop strength equivalent to a strong electric effect.
“This could lead to a new kind of solar cell without semiconductors and without absorption to produce charge separation,” Rand said. “In solar cells, the light goes into a material, gets absorbed and creates heat. Here, we expect to have a very low heat load. Instead of the light being absorbed, energy is stored in the magnetic moment. Intense magnetization can be induced by intense light and then it is ultimately capable of providing a capacitive power source.”
What makes this possible is a previously undetected brand of “optical rectification,” says William Fisher, a doctoral student in applied physics. In traditional optical rectification, light’s electric field causes a charge separation, or a pulling apart of the positive and negative charges in a material. This sets up a voltage, similar to that in a battery. This electric effect had previously been detected only in crystalline materials that possessed a certain symmetry.
What this all means is that one day we may not need expensive semiconductors to capture solar energy. Instead, solar manufacturers could simply use ubiquitous, cheap materials like glass or transparent ceramics.
This solar technology is still in the conceptual stage, and may take years before it can be reliably used for everyday applications. But perhaps the promise of cheaper solar power is worth the wait.
Tags: solar cells, solar energy, solar power, solar research, solar technology, University of Michigan
April 18th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
There are a lot of convenience and benefits using solar power in which we can find outstanding source of energy despite of the rising issues about being lack of it. Thanks or this great input and keep them coming!:)
April 19th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
The technology suggested in your article is no more than a change from Photo-Voltaic cells to Photo-Magnetic cells. We would still be using solar panels. However, we already have solar power without solar panels by arranging mirror in parabolic curves to focus the radiant heat from the sun onto boilers, with the steam from the boilers being used to in turbines to power generators. Such power stations are built in desserts. The question is not can we, but which method is cheaper in the long term?
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:54 pm
As I could noticed, different ways of generating energy from the sun exist. An important reflexion should be, which one is the most likely to be commercialised in large scale. Renewable energy has to be used by the most of people as possible. Thanks to technological discoveries, it will be more reachable by people who were not willing to deal with with green energy.