Solar panels made from recycled food waste generate energy without sunlight

Carvey Eren Meig holding one of her prototype panels. (CREDIT: James Dyson Foundation)

Sustainability is the next big move when it comes to design, it’s something that every industry will have to apply and one of the most interesting parts of that is researching materials – what substitutes can we use or what changes can we make to optimize our resources. to improve the climate?

Fossil fuels still account for over 81% of global energy production, according to the International Energy Agency, and if we continue to burn fossil fuels at current rates, the world’s gas and oil reserves will run out by 2060.

Solar panels are the cornerstone of the clean energy revolution. And yet they have one big drawback: when the clouds roll in, their performance drops.

Now an electrical engineering student at the University of Mapua has developed a new type of solar panel that captures the sun’s invisible ultraviolet light, which can even penetrate dense clouds.

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Carvey Eren Meig, who won the James Dyson Sustainability Award for his creation, hopes it will soon be used for the windows and walls of large buildings, turning them into permanent sources of energy.

Solar panels that don’t rely on visible sunlight

A concept called AuREUS (which stands for Aurora Renewable Energy and UV Sequestration) uses luminescent particles from fruit and vegetable waste that absorb ultraviolet light and convert it into visible light. The solar film then converts this visible light into energy.

“This is similar to how we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide,” Meig said. “It absorbs ultraviolet light and then emits it as visible light after a while.”

Mague’s prototype for AuREUS is a single green-painted 3-foot-by-2-foot panel that he installed on a window in his apartment. In his demo for the James Dyson Award, he showed that his test panel could generate enough electricity to charge two phones a day. Meig says that on a larger scale, these panels will allow buildings to run entirely on their own electricity.

Democratization of renewable energy sources

The creator also says the material’s flexibility — the resin can even be applied to clothing fabric — allows designers to use the panels in a variety of different, innovative designs that could help more people understand and make decisions about renewable energy.

“If we can democratize renewable energy, we can bring it closer to people both physically and mentally,” Meig explained. “It would give them a sense of access to it, that they are closer to it, that they don’t have to be big institutions that can harvest solar energy from their rooftops.”

In addition to lowering costs, mitigating climate change and supporting local farming communities, these panels will also reduce people’s exposure to radiation that can cause serious illness and help reduce cities’ carbon footprint by sustainable architecture.

“I want to create the best form of renewable energy that harnesses the world’s natural resources, is close to people’s lives, blazes achievable paths, and rallying towards a sustainable and regenerative future,” Meig says. His invention is directed to the future and solves the problems of the present.

Meig’s next step is to develop his first AuREUS construction plant at a small medical clinic on Jomalig Island, off the Philippine mainland, which often goes without power during storms.

For more information on AuREUS, watch the James Dyson Foundation video above.

To learn more about environmental news, check out our Green Impact section at The bright side of the news.

Note. Materials provided above by Chris Young. Content can be edited for style and length.

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