In 2022, researchers at the University of New South Wales made a breakthrough in solar electricity generation with a panel that’s capable of operating at night. The concept of a solar power system that works without sunlight may sound impossible, but the technology draws on heat that’s radiated as infrared light after the sun has gone down. Their most recent advancements involve taking the tech to space, and the implications for renewable power are vast.Australian university team develops nighttime solar power systemTwo years ago in 2022, a UNSW (University of New South Wales) team of researchers and scientists revealed that they figured out how to harvest renewable solar power at night, and the technology is being prepared to be dispatched in space. The electricity is produced from the heat radiated into space as infrared light, which is the way the Earth cools after the sun sets.When looking through a thermal imaging camera, areas of red, white, and yellow can be seen, which indicate the fields of heat from daytime sunlight that is radiating back into space in the form of infrared light. A semiconductor device composed of materials found in night-vision goggles called a thermoradiative diode was used to generate power from the emission of infrared light.A challenge arose in that the amount of power capable of being generated was small at 100,000 times less than supplied by a standard sunlight solar panel, but according to UNSW team leader Professor Ned Ekins-Daukes, it was an “unambiguous demonstration of electrical power.”The team’s findings confirm a previously theoretical process, which is an exciting development in the field. Since then, the team has started working on a new material that’s easier to manufacture.Another technological innovation is being applied in space involving beaming solar power to Earth via a laser for the first time, and the implications for harnessing energy are exciting.How is the technology going to be used in space?The new infrared solar technology is being prepared for use in space. The position of the International Space Station, which is an area of low Earth orbit, experiences a day that lasts 90 minutes of half daylight and half darkness. Spacecraft in this area of space need to be powered by solar cells during the day but batteries at night. The new technology is going to make it possible to generate power for the spacecraft to be able to function in darkness.Professor Ekins-Daukes said:“The first silicon solar cells were demonstrated in 1953 and by 1958 they were used on the first solar powered satellite. We now generate very large quantities of electricity from solar power for our homes using silicon solar cells, that technology which was first used in space. In a similar way, we intend to fly the thermoradiative diode in space within the next 2 years.”How does the system work according to thermoradiative principles?The new technology out of UNSW works on the principle of thermoradiative
Sab. Gen 11th, 2025
