Solar power without solar cells

[peoli]

(PhysOrg.com) -- A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar

In the process, they overturned a century-old tenet of physics.
“You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We’ve all been taught that this doesn’t happen,” said Rand, an author of a paper on the work published in the Journal of Applied Physics. “It’s a very odd interaction. That’s why it’s been overlooked for more than 100 years.”

Light has electric and magnetic components. Until now, scientists thought the effects of the magnetic field were so weak that they could be ignored. What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not conduct electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected. Under these circumstances, the magnetic effects develop strength equivalent to a strong electric effect.

“This could lead to a new kind of solar cell without semiconductors and without absorption to produce charge separation,” Rand said. “In solar cells, the light goes into a material, gets absorbed and creates heat. Here, we expect to have a very low heat load. Instead of the light being absorbed, energy is stored in the magnetic moment. Intense magnetization can be induced by intense light and then it is ultimately capable of providing a capacitive power source.”

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-solar-power-cells-hidden-magnetic.html

[Scuba]

1. Love it. This is the type research we should have been funding....

...with the hundreds of millions in tax rebates that went to big oil.

[Confusious]

2. This was posted a while back

It requires 10 million watts per square centimeter. By comparison, the intensity of the sun on the earth is .01 watts per square centimeter.

It's got a long way to go.

[Boojatta]

5. “All we would need are lenses to focus the light

and a fiber to guide it. Glass works for both. It’s already made in bulk, and it doesn’t require as much processing. Transparent ceramics might be even better.”

[Confusious]

9. Yes, and they also said they are looking for new materials

Something like this is going to take years (~50) to come to anything. Some seem to think it will happen tomorrow, usually those with no science background. They've been looking for the holy grail of superconductors for ~50 years.

Just discovering an effect doesn't make it practical.

And I think he was being a bit overoptimistic in his analysis of “All we would need are lenses to focus the light and a fiber to guide it. Glass works for both. It’s already made in bulk, and it doesn’t require as much processing. Transparent ceramics might be even better.” Probably to keep his funding going. While I have no problem with that, it gives the impression to those who have no science background that it could happen tomorrow.

I read about the computer industry looking at making chips from man-made diamonds ~10 years ago. Where are they? Still stuck in the research phase.

Personally, I think science has picked all the low hanging fruit and things are going to slow down as we need to understand completely the atomic forces in each and and every material we use. I'm probably wrong, but it's a feeling I get.

[AndyTiedye]

3. Very Interesting

k/r

[tridim]

4. Enjoy the nervous diarrhea, filthy rich oil industry.

I'd suggest Pepto, but it's not a petroleum product.

[lonestarnot]

7. Let them drink their fucking oil.

[lonestarnot]

6. Chaching! Excellent!

[Gregorian]

8. I got all excited until I realized the catch.

"And it must be focused to an intensity of 10 million watts per square centimeter."

It's great if you live on the surface of the sun. I'm not knocking it. It may have abilities I am not aware of. But it sounds like it has been overlooked for a practical reason.