Nanoscale golden spheres are being developed to capture a greater amount of sun energy.
The innovation is dubbed supraballs by its creators at Korea University. And the tech can amazingly capture most wavelengths in sunlight, including visible light and near-infrared, according to a news release.
The team thinks the invention will improve solar-thermal systems, which convert sunbeams into heat energy and create electricity using a thermoelectric generator.
"This coating technology could significantly lower the barrier for high-efficiency solar-thermal and photothermal systems in real-world energy applications," researcher Seungwoo Lee said.
When combined during testing, supraball films and a generator proved the scientists right, converting the better light collection into improved energy production. The generators are often used in extreme conditions, including space missions and radioactive settings. They gather waste heat from other processes to function, according to Michigan-based Applied Thermoelectric Solutions. The company isn't involved with supraball research.
The spheres, which look like miniature suns, are part of a solar industry that's marking regular breakthroughs.
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For their part, the supraball researchers described their findings as "paradigm-shifting … offering a scalable route toward next-generation solar thermoelectric, photothermal, and thermal management technologies," according to an abstract published by ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
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The spheres are formed by gold nanoparticles that clump together to create films. Their diameter was adjusted to capture the most solar energy possible. Computer simulations helped the experts to perfect the design.
"Results from the simulations showed that the supraballs should absorb more than 90% of wavelengths from sunlight," according to the release.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 The team then created a film of gold supraballs by drying a liquid solution containing the structures on the surface of a commercially available thermoelectric generator. The films were created in ambient room conditions — "no clean rooms or extreme temperatures required," the report continued.
This version was tested under an LED solar simulator, absorbing about 89% of wavelengths when coupled with a generator.
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"Sunbeams contain a lot of energy. But current technology for harvesting solar power doesn't capture as much as it could," the release stated.
Increased solar energy use reduces reliance on burning coal, oil, and gas for power, which produces harmful air pollution.
Home solar is already delivering results by converting sunlight into electricity without a generator. Systems can cost $30,000 or more but last for decades. The arrays pay for themselves several times over during that time through energy savings, according to EnergySage.
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If the experts have success, nanoscale golden orbs may soon be part of the way to better tap the renewable energy source as well.
"Our … supraballs offer a simple route to harvesting the full solar spectrum," Lee said.
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