來自寒冷黑夜的，全新的可再生能源技術

來自寒冷黑夜的，全新的可再生能源技術

Two years ago, one freezing December night on a California rooftop, a tiny light shone weakly with a little help from the freezing night air. It wasn't a very bright glow. But it was enough to demonstrate the possibility of generating renewable power after the Sun goes down.

兩年前，12月的一個寒冷的夜晚，在加利福尼亞的屋頂上，一盞微弱的燈光在寒冷的夜晚空氣的幫助下微弱地閃爍著。那不是很明亮的光芒,但這足以證明太陽下山后產(chǎn)生可再生能源的可能性。

Working with Stanford University engineers Wei Li and Shanhui Fan, University of California Los Angeles materials scientist Aaswath Raman put together a device that produces a voltage by channelling the day's residual warmth into cooling air.

加州大學洛杉磯分校材料科學家aaswath raman與斯坦福大學工程師李瑋(wei li)和范善惠(shanhui fan)合作，組裝了一種裝置，通過將白天剩余的熱量輸送到冷卻空氣中來產(chǎn)生電壓。

(Aaswath Raman)

"Our work highlights the many remaining opportunities for energy by taking advantage of the cold of outer space as a renewable energy resource," says Raman.

拉曼說:“我們的工作突出表明，利用外層空間的寒冷作為一種可再生能源，還有許多剩余的能源機會。”

"We think this forms the basis of a complementary technology to solar. While the power output will always be substantially lower, it can operate at hours when solar cells cannot."

“我們認為這是太陽能互補技術的基礎。雖然太陽能電池的輸出功率總是會大幅降低，但它可以在太陽能電池無法工作的時候工作。”

For all the merits of solar energy, it's just not a 24-7 source of power. Sure, we can store it in a giant battery or use it to pump water up into a reservoir for later, but until we have more economical solutions, nighttime is going to be a quiet time for renewable solar power.

盡管太陽能有很多優(yōu)點，但它并不是全天候供電的。當然，我們可以把它儲存在一個巨大的電池里，或者用它把水抽到一個蓄水池里，以備以后使用。但是，在我們找到更經(jīng)濟的解決方案之前，夜間將是可再生太陽能發(fā)電的安靜時間。

To keep costs down, the team used simple, off-the-shelf items that pretty much any of us could easily get our hands on.

為了降低成本，團隊使用了一些簡單的現(xiàn)成物品，我們中的大多數(shù)人都可以很容易地拿到這些東西。

They put together a cheap thermoelectric generator and linked it with a black aluminium disk to shed heat in the night air as it faced the sky. The generator was placed inside a polystyrene enclosure sealed with a window transparent to infrared light, and linked to a single tiny LED.

他們組裝了一個廉價的熱電發(fā)電機，并將它與一個黑色的鋁盤相連，以便在夜間空氣中向天空散發(fā)熱量。發(fā)電機被放置在聚苯乙烯外殼內(nèi)，用一個對紅外線透明的窗口密封，并與一個微型LED相連。

At its best, the device generated around 0.8 milliwatts of power, corresponding to 25 milliwatts of power per square metre.

在最佳狀態(tài)下，該裝置產(chǎn)生的功率約為0.8毫瓦，相當于每平方米25毫瓦的電力。

(Aaswath Raman)

That might just be enough to keep a hearing aid working. String several together and you might just be able to keep your cat amused with a simple laser pointer. So we're not talking massive amounts of power.

這可能只夠讓助聽器繼續(xù)工作。那么把幾個串在一起，你就可以有一個簡單的激光筆逗貓開心了。所以我們說，這無法產(chǎn)生巨大的能量。

But as far as prototypes go, it's a fantastic starting point. The team suggests that with the right tweaks and the right conditions, 500 milliwatts per square metre isn't out of the question.

但就原型而言，這是一個極好的起點。研究小組認為，只要調(diào)整得當，條件合適，每平方米500毫瓦并不是沒有可能。

"Beyond lighting, we believe this could be a broadly enabling approach to power generation suitable for remote locations, and anywhere where power generation at night is needed," says Raman.

拉曼說:“除了照明，我們相信這可能是一種廣泛可行的發(fā)電方式，適用于偏遠地區(qū)，以及任何需要夜間發(fā)電的地方。”

While we search for big, bright ideas to drive the revolution for renewables, it's important to make sure we don't let the smaller, simpler solutions like these slip away quietly into the night.

當我們在尋找推動可再生能源革命的偉大、光明的想法時，重要的是確保我們不會讓這些更小、更簡單的解決方案悄悄溜走。