Thermoradiative Device for Harvesting 24 Hour Daily Energy from Sun

A thermoradiative devices (TRD) based power generator that harvests solar energy via concentrated solar irradiation during daytime and via thermal infrared emission towards the outer space at nighttime has been proposed on Arxiv. Researchers developed a rigorous thermodynamical model to investigate the performance characteristics, parametric optimum design, and the role of various energy loss mechanisms. The model predicts that the TRD-based system yields a peak efficiency of 12.6% at daytime and a maximum power density of 10.8 Watts per square meter at nighttime, thus significantly outperforming the state-of the art record-setting thermoelectric generator. These findings reveal the potential of TRD towards 24-hour electricity generation and future renewable energy technology.

Commercial solar rooftop panels are generating about 170 to 250 watts per square meter in the daytime. The TRD would be generating about 120-130 watts per square meter in the day time and 10.7 watts at night.

This could have niche applications for spacecraft or satellites or devices that need at least some power around the clock. Any consistent sun light would work better to have regular solar and 150 to 250 watt hours per square meter of batteries to cover night time operation.

SOURCES- Arxiv
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com

15 thoughts on “Thermoradiative Device for Harvesting 24 Hour Daily Energy from Sun”

  1. Hey Brian, it's kinda rude to deeplink into ARXiV PDF's directly. They have a paper landing page for a reason…

    Such as when there is an updated paper or a correction is issued…

  2. This not of much use for energy production. At best, they would get ten times less energy during night time compared to day time. So, if you make a power plant with this technology, you still 90% of the orgininal back-up power. Either natural gas or batteries. And, of course, the day-time efficiency seem to be half that of normal solar cells….

  3. 10.7 W per square meter theoretically predicted.

    1 picoWatt actual experimental value for a single photo diode.

    So, how big was the single photo diode? They don't say, but I'm betting it wasn't anywhere near a square meter.

  4. It appears to me that you'd actually get much better performance from a straightforward thermal solar system with a good high temperature heat reservoir.

  5. Very first picture shows stars in the night sky shining right through the moon.
    If we can do this, then sure just put out your solar panels at night.
    This all makes perfect sense.

  6. So, looks like this could work *both* ways all the time in space?? Sun on one side, dark on the other. Still less than normal cells, tho.

  7. 10.7 W theoretically predicted.
    Actual experimental value reported in the paper is 1 picoWatt. But they think they can do better.

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