Nanoantennas to harvest solar energy and infrared radiation which can be transformed into electricity

There just might be another way for us to harvest solar energy and infrared radiation for us to be able to transform it into viable energy. Yes, as in we can use it for electricity – charge our iPods with it, make our cars run on it. This technology is the nanoantenna and the scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory thinks this just might be it.

Here could be the ultimate recycling activity. Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory think that plastic sheets with billions of nanoantennas that collect solar energy and other sources (waste heat) can be transformed into electricity.

It is found that these plastic sheets could someday be manufactured as “lightweight skins” and it could in fact be used to power everything, from Hybrid cars to iPods, and with much higher efficiency than traditional solar cells.

Apparently, the flexible nanoantenna rays are especially effective because it is able to capture abundant amounts of the elusive solar energy mid-infrared rays radiated by the earth. This is made possible by the materials’ properties’ ability to change drastically at high-frequency wavelengths.

They discovered this when they studied the behavior of various materials (ie. gold, manganese, copper) under infrared rays. The resulting data was then used to build computer models of nanoantennas, and here, they found that with the right properties, the simulated nanoantennas could harvest to as much as 92% of the energy at infrared wavelengths.

However, and there’s always a catch to scientific breakthroughs like this, while the energy did prove to be harvest-able, the scientists are still at a loss as to how to convert the energy into electricity. Without it, the nanoantennas will just be harvesting unusable energy. They say that “more technological advances” are required before this transformation can actually happen.

But still, it is a nice thought if it actually comes to fruition. This will certainly be a great way to sustain the technology we have right now, without necessarily using up all our resources, don’t you think? And for a much cheaper cost too. Now if only we can find out how to transform that harvested energy into electricity.

The study was presented earlier at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2007 2nd International Conference on Energy.

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