Designed by Npsag. the Night Light is a conceptual pavilion that harvests solar energy and transmits it back as an event light after dark. The concept is actually a collection of solar powered painted cells which glow in the dark. The concept structure features a diagrid which supports the interior.
A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana is reporting the creation of a “solar paint” that could mark an important milestone on the road to widespread implementation of renewable energy technology. Although the new material is still a long way off the conversion efficiencies of commercial silicon solar cells, the researchers say it is cheap to make and can be produced in large quantities.
In an effort to find an alternative to silicon-based solar cells, the Notre Dame researchers turned to quantum dot materials. They started with nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and coated them with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide – both compounds that can absorb photons. A photon of the right energy hitting the cadmium compounds causes an electron to escape, which is absorbed by the TiO2.
Living skyscrapers? Not quite. While organic solar cells are one of several types of photovoltaics currently being explored, Scientific American reports that work is being done that could lead to windows acting as solar panels, by using a compound very similar to chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll, as we all remember from elementary school, is the green chemical in leaves that turns water and carbon dioxide to oxygen and glucose with the use of sunlight (through a horrible cycle learned once in bio class and then forgotten forever). A chemist by the name of Michael Graetzel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology thinks he can use it to build a better solar cell.
If you look closely, you may notice that some buildings are installing solar-powered windows. With scientists focusing on putting see-through solar windows on the fast track to a wider market, innovations for solar windows are popping up more and more.
Take the concept of spray-on solar coatings. Rather than replacing entire windows to offer solar power, scientists are crafting alternatives. For instance, New Energy’s technology joins a growing list in the achievements of solar inks and sprays.
Such spray-ons have the potential to lower the cost of installed solar energy, a rate that has been dropping faster than ever.
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