Solar Panels Made from Waste Crops Can Make Energy Without Light

A Filipino inventor has built resinous panels that capture solar energy from recycled vegetables, and it can function even when it's dark, wet, or out of direct sunlight, in a twist for solar energy. It turns out that veggies have very sensitive molecules that convert UV radiation from the sun into visible light, which may then be used to create power using photovoltaic cells.

The different coloured panels push sunlight into the edges of a double-glazed window pane, where PV cells convert it into electricity- enough to charge two smartphones- but if used to clad an entire building, it can power major systems as well as delight onlookers with its Andy Warhol-like use of bright colours.

Carvey Ehren Maigue, 29, earned the 2020 Dyson Foundation Sustainability Award for his invention, which was made from repurposed vegetable waste. It was given the name AuREUS by Maigue because of its multicoloured character, which resembles the Aurora Borealis.

AuREUS is a vegetarian polymer sheet that can be twisted, moulded, and clamped onto almost any shape, unlike the huge solar panels we've all seen.

Furthermore, they do not require UV light to strike them directly, instead gathering UV light through clouds as plants do. Even the UV light was bouncing off a nearby tower or field, they may still generate electricity if put on a roof fully in shade.

In a 2020 interview with the Dyson Foundation, Maigue said, "We are also looking to make curved plates, for use on electric cars, aeroplanes, and even boats." "AuREUS has the potential to bring solar energy capture to a wider audience." I want solar energy harvesting to be more accessible, much as computers were once only used by the government or the military and are now found in our cellphones."

He claims that the base polymer might even be used to manufacture thread for clothing, allowing people to generate power while walking around.

Maigue was created to be as low-impact as possible, thus it looked for not only vegetable waste but also crops that had been devastated by storms and typhoons. The panels are available in a variety of colours, including red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, with an appropriate and natural blue coloring agent still to be identified.