EEVblog 1467 - Stanford Solar Power at Nightime! BUSTED

Stanford University researchers have made a solar panel that works at nighttime!
It will reduce or eliminate the need for battery storage! TAKE THAT Big Oil!
You can probably guess how it works... Let's BUST this impractical boondoggle wide open.

00:00 - Pulitzer prize winning twitter Blue Checkmark time
00:35 - If Stanford University did the research, it has to be true!
02:35 - Take that Big Oil!
03:35 - The Thermoelectric Generator AGAIN...
04:10 - It generates HOW MUCH power at night time?
06:02 - Let's run the numbers on Dave's LG panel system
08:04 - It's not much better than ONE 18650 cell. LOL
09:37 - Tech journalists should be able to multiply and divide.
10:09 - Reading the paper
11:50 - Photos of the prototype

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#ElectronicsCreators #Solar #Debunking

[BenHeckHacks]

This would be like NASA using a thermoelectric generator sourced from a warm dog turd. I hate fake science.

[Thesignalpath]

Social media and "modern" journalism is ruining science one article at a time.

[jwflame]

Placing the panels in an insulated box will result in overheating and premature failure. The LPDE film over the top will reduce daytime output by far more than the 50mW gained from the TEG.

[jdmjesus]

I've not done the maths but I'd imagine it would take more energy to make the system than you would get back from it in its entire lifetime.

[radiotec]

It was worth listening to just to hear, “FIFTY MILLIWATTS PER SQUARE METER! C’MON!”

[aguitarmaker]

I can't believe how far they go. As an engineer I've had a few crazy ideas, but it never took more than a few days to realize it won't work.

[jimgrady]

Solar, like solar roadways, is always funny when it's just some charlatan scamming the City Council, but when these things start to emerge from respected engineering schools it's just painful and makes me want to cry 🤢

[SeanHodgins]

These articles are tiring... But I will mention I was excited to find out my solar panel was able to keep my garden pump battery topped up through the winter under a few inches of snow. That was cool.

[Kai-cxbz]

The efficiency gains from taking off the insulation and letting the panels cool properly probably outweighs any gains from the power produced from thermoelectric. You're just going to tank the open circuit voltage. Trying to trap heat in your panels seems like a terrible design choice.

[ralphj]

For maximum output at night (without a generator), move to Svalbard, Norway (from April to August)

[richardbloemenkamp]

Both Stanford and Applied Physics letters journal are very quickly losing their reputation. With the deep learning pseudo-science they were already on their way down (basically most of the deep-learning is just pumping out loads of articles based on trial-on-error experiences, without any gain of understanding). Making this a featured article only shows that the marketing people have taken over at these institutions. For real science maybe its better move to Asian and European academic institutions where the peer reviewing is a bit stronger and the marketing buzz a lot weaker. Sorry for the students who have injected the family savings to pay the Stanford admission fees.

[guni]

The graphs are quite interesting. They suggest you can get a similar Wattage out of them at night compared to daytime. Thing is: Day scale is in W/m2, Night scale is in mW/m2 🤣

[elvinhaak]

Wow, this must be the best april's fool days joke to get this publiced everywhere! Really love this joke!

[steverpcb]

Just mount normal panels near a street light :)

[perhansson]

I have an idea that can make the solar panels produce electricity at several hundred orders of magnitude more than this at night time, just install them at the polar circle! :)

[mosfet]

These colleges are fishing for funding, it happens all the time.

[danc]

Note: the guard may have turned on a street lamp to watch the solar set up while he guarded the item during test. This may have altered the performance.

[antonnym]

Sir, you are an international treasure, and we hope you feel appreciated, because you are doing a necessary service. You know your stuff! Too bad the journalists promulgating this crap do not. All good wishes!

[dannyberne]

I like how they compare the 50mw against a PV cell, rather than the ~250watts(*) per meter of a perfect black body radiator. I wish I could write a paper with garbage and get published.

They could have mentioned that it will cool whatever it's connected to, that is always a selling point

*I'm working off my memory there. I honestly can't be bothered to look it up.

[thumbwarriordx]

I like how they write about how "This makes batteries unnecessary, aren't batteries expensive?"
No, a battery that can supply enough power for a couple LEDs is not expensive at all.
Any little e-scooter has way, way more power in it than that.