Researchers from the University of New South Wales are developing an “inverted solar panel”.’ which generates small amounts of electricity at night by harvesting the infrared heat radiated from the Earth. ‘In the past, scientists have shown that a ‘thermoradiative diode’can convert infrared radiation directly into electricity; when used to convert heat from the Earth, they take advantage of the temperature difference between the Earth and the night sky, generating power directly from heat,” notes ExtremeTech. “This approach completely eliminates the need for heat to generate steam, although the resulting capacity is quite low.” The researchers estimate that they would only be able to generate about one watt per square meter, which isn’t much. One reason for the low output is that Earth’s atmosphere reduces the heat difference that drives the generative process; However, in space this is not a problem.
Now researchers believe the ability to generate energy in the moments between direct sunlight could help power satellites. That could be especially true in deep space, where periods without sunlight can be longer and sunlight is often weaker; in these situations, losing electricity due to heat loss is unacceptable.
Many satellites already use heat to generate electricity, albeit with a much rarer ‘thermoelectric generator’ that uses rare, expensive materials such as plutonium to create heat. With thermoradiative diodes, the heat source can be the sun-heated body of the satellite itself.
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