Do Solar Panels Work at Night

An alternative source of energy is the need of the hour for mankind. The rate at which we are using this non-renewable sources of energy, they are bound to get exhausted sooner or later. Being cost efficient and renewable energy source, solar energy is likely the best possible replacement for harmful fossil fuels in near future.

What is Solar Energy?
Solar power is generated by harnessing the heat and light of the Sun. Sun being the most important component of solar power generation, many people are kept wondering, how do solar panels work at night, or basically do they even work at night? Before we try to answer that, we will have to know about the basics of solar energy.

How Solar Power Works?
These solar panels capture the sunlight, convert it to electrical energy and store or distribute it. The solar panel is designed to absorb the heat radiated from the Sun. It's always better to have solar panel facing south so that they get direct sunlight. If you are wondering why do solar panels need direct sunlight, it's because if they don't get direct sunlight the output will decrease.

How Solar Cells Work?
Solar panels are made of numerous photovoltaic cells, popularly known as the solar cells. These solar cells are made from semiconductors, such as silicon. As soon as the sunlight comes in contact with the photovoltaic cells, the cells free the electrons. After being let loose, the electrons seeking the positive connection move on to the other side of the panel, which is positively charged using some element, such as boron. As the electrons continue moving to the other side of the solar panel, electrical current is produced. Read more on solar panels for electricity generation.

This current is turned into voltage, when it comes into contact with the electrical contacts on the solar cell. The direct current (DC) is either stored in a battery or transferred through an inverter. Now you must be wondering, do solar panels work at night, especially when the entire process requires sunlight continuously.

Do Solar Panels Work at Night?
Many a times, we need electricity throughout the day as well as night. However, if you are using solar power to light up your house, this can be a bit tedious task. Basically, the efficiency of solar panels decreases considerably at night or during winter. This can be attributed to less amount of sunlight reaching the solar panels in such circumstances. In such a scenario, conservation of solar energy can work wonders for you. The best way to tackle the problem is using utility grid or a battery bank. The utility grid, which can be used simultaneously with solar power, would power your house at night or during a cloudy winter day. The battery bank on other hand will convert solar energy to electricity throughout the day and store it for later use. Battery bank concept has proved to be highly successful for small scale power generation and efforts are being undertaken to use this concept at large scale. Streetlights working on solar power are the best examples of use of solar energy at night. The solar panels located above these streetlights conserve solar energy throughout the day, and this energy is used to light the lamps throughout the night.

Solar Panels With Nanoantennas
Conventional solar panels have only 40 percent efficiency, meaning they can only convert 40 percent of the total solar energy they receive into usable electricity. More recently, however, a new variant of solar panel with 80 percent efficiency is being developed. This solar panel is designed to work even after sunset. In this new technology, solar energy is harnessed by using nanoantennas i.e. the square spirals of conducting metal embedded into a sheet of plastic which can be easily folded. The earth absorbs the infrared energy of the Sun and releases it after sunset. The new solar panels absorb this infrared energy released by the Earth at night and direct energy from the sun during the day. Thus they harness energy during the day as well as at night. At a size of 1/25th of the human hair diameter, they are very small, but when it comes to efficiency, they overshadow their conventional counterparts with immense ease.

This answers the intriguing question, how do solar panels work at night? With technological advancement, solar power harnessing techniques will just get better. More importantly, being on the verge of climate change and fossil fuel exhaustion, we are left with no option but to find out an alternative energy source as soon as possible. Among the available sources, there is no doubt that solar power is our best bet.