Scientists have successfully created a 'reverse solar cell' that generates electricity in the dark

Currently, there are about 1.3 billion people in the world who are not aware of electric light, although solar technology is very popular and developed. To remedy this situation, a team of scientists came up with a system that could generate energy in the dark.

Instead of using light, the new solar panel collects energy from the cold night sky to generate electricity. It may sound unrealistic, but scientists have created something unimaginable, reverse solar technology.

Researchers have created a system to generate electricity from the darkness by taking advantage of the heat generated from the Earth itself. The system consists of a sealed aluminum disc and is surrounded by an insulating layer of 20 cm diameter, attached to a commercially available thermoelectric generator. This system has a total value of about VND 700,000.

When the sun goes down, the heat flow of the ground enters the atmosphere as heat radiation. This heat loss is partly due to mixing with cold air in the upper atmosphere. The researchers' system takes the amount of heat lost in the middle of the road. When the sun goes down, the difference in temperature between day and night will cause radiation cooling.

The researchers conducted a test of their system in California. As a result, each square meter of disk generates 25 milliwatts of electricity, enough to light an LED light bulb. When the sun rises, this system absorbs heat from sunlight to generate electricity.

At the present time, what researchers have tested just proves that their system can work. A series of issues, new questions will arise as the system scales up.

In terms of efficiency, the system 'generates electricity from the darkness' about 100 times less than the solar battery. But compared to the price, this system is much cheaper. Hopefully, in the future, scientists will be able to apply this scientific report to create breakthrough new technology in the energy industry.

1. This is the rarest element on Earth, before observing it has vanished into nothingness