A thermoelectric generator device developed by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University harnesses the cold darkness of space without active heat input, generating electricity that powers LEDs at night.
Raman et al highlighted the remarkable possibility and potential of generating small amounts of power by radiative cooling at night using low-cost, off-the-shelf, commodity components (less than $30 USD for the initial proof of concept demonstration). In off-grid locations throughout the world, this approach of generating light from darkness highlights an entirely new way of maintaining lighting, entirely passively, at night. The power generated could also be used to power small sensors in remote locations, with their lifetimes not being limited by batteries but the lifetime of the thermoelectric module, which can be an order of magnitude longer. Image credit: Raman et al, 10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.009.
While solar cells are an efficient source of renewable energy during the day, there is currently no similar renewable approach to generating power at night.
Solar lights can be outfitted with batteries to store energy produced in daylight hours for night-time use, but the addition drives up costs.
The newly-developed device sidesteps the limitations of solar power by taking advantage of radiative cooling, in which a sky-facing surface passes its heat to the atmosphere as thermal radiation, losing some heat to space and reaching a cooler temperature than the surrounding air.
This phenomenon explains how frost forms on grass during above-freezing nights, and the same principle can be used to generate electricity, harnessing temperature differences to produce renewable electricity at night, when lighting demand peaks.
“Remarkably, the device is able to generate electricity at night, when solar cells don’t work,” said Dr. Aaswath Raman, from the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Beyond lighting, we believe this could be a broadly enabling approach to power generation suitable for remote locations, and anywhere where power generation at night is needed.”
Top: schematic of the low-cost night-time thermoelectric generator device and its key components. Bottom: photo of the device in rooftop testing. Image credit: Raman et al, 10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.009.
The team’s low-cost thermoelectric generator consists of a polystyrene enclosure covered in aluminized mylar to minimize thermal radiation and protected by an infrared-transparent wind cover.
Dr. Raman and colleagues tested it on a rooftop in Stanford, California, under a clear December sky.
The device sat on a table one meter above roof level, drawing heat from the surrounding air and releasing it into the night sky through a simple black emitter.
When the thermoelectric module was connected to a voltage boost convertor and a white LED, the researchers observed that it passively powered the light.
They further measured its power output over six hours, finding that it generated as much as 25 mW/m2.
Since the radiative cooler consists of a simple aluminum disk coated in paint, and all other components can be purchased off the shelf, the scientists believe the device can be easily scaled for practical use.
The amount of electricity it generates per unit area remains relatively small, limiting its widespread applications for now, but the researchers predict it can be made twenty times more powerful with improved engineering — such as by suppressing heat gain in the radiative cooling component to increase heat-exchange efficiency — and operation in a hotter, drier climate.
“Our work highlights the many remaining opportunities for energy by taking advantage of the cold of outer space as a renewable energy resource,” Dr. Raman said.
“We think this forms the basis of a complementary technology to solar. While the power output will always be substantially lower, it can operate at hours when solar cells cannot.”
The team’s device is described in a paper published in the journal Joule.
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Aaswath P. Raman et al. Generating Light from Darkness. Joule, published online September 12, 2019; doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.009
