An old argument in the anti-solar world goes something like: no sun, no solar generation. Well, any good physicist knows, just because it's dark doesn't mean there is no light. But how do solar devices capture this energy after the sun rolls over to the other side of the world?

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory claim to have unlocked the secret of harnessing the infrared light that the earth radiates as heat after absorbing energy from the sun during the day.

Microscopic nanoantennas, each with a diameter 1/25 the size of a human hair, capable of absorbing infrared energy and drawing energy after the sun has set, could be imprinted on flexible materials in commercial products that potentially cost pennies a yard. The tiny circuits absosrb energy not unlike the antenna in a cell phone.

So, when some naysayer dimisses solar as it can't collect the sun's energy after dark, they could be wrong.

Posted in: nanoantennas,Solar,US Department of Energy