Photovoltaic Cell Harvests Energy After Sun Goes Down


New research paper "Nighttime electric power generation at a density of 50 mW/m2 via radiative cooling of a photovoltaic cell" from Stanford, supported by U.S. Department of Energy and the Strategic Energy Alliance program at Stanford University. Abstract: "A large fraction of the world's population lacks access to the electric grid. Standard photovoltaic (PV) cells can provide a renewabl... » read more

Energy Harvesting Shows New Signs of Life


Energy harvesting is seeing renewed activity in select markets, years after some high-profile attempts to build this into consumer electronics stalled out. Costs, manufacturing challenges, and market resistance kept this technology from moving forward, more than a decade after it was being touted as the best way forward for consumer electronics and devices that were hard to access. While sol... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 30


Harvesting body heat Researchers at University of Colorado Boulder, Harbin Institute of Technology, Southeast University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology designed a stretchy thermoelectric generator that can be worn against the skin to power small wearable electronics using body heat. The stretchy material polyimine is used as the base of the device. A series of thin therm... » read more