New Kind of 'Solar' Cell Shows We Can Generate Electricity Even at Night - ScienceAlert

A team of engineers in Australia has now demonstrated the theory in action, using the kind of technology commonly found in night-vision goggles to generate power.

So far, the prototype only generates a small amount of power, and is probably unlikely to become a competitive source of renewable power on its own – but coupled with existing photovoltaics technology, it could harness the small amount of energy provided by solar cells cooling after a long, hot day's work.

"Photovoltaics, the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity, is an artificial process that humans have developed in order to convert the solar energy into power," says Phoebe Pearce, a physicist from the University of New South Wales.

By setting atoms in any material jiggling with heat, you're forcing their electrons to generate low-energy ripples of electromagnetic radiation in the form of infrared light.

"But the theory says it is possible for this technology to ultimately produce about 1/10th of the power of a solar cell.".