The Idaho National Laboratory, Microcontinuum, Inc. and Patrick Pinhero from the University of Missouri are developing an exciting new technology which uses "nano-antennas" to capture solar energy. What is especially cool about this new solar technology is that it would operate both during the day and at night by using the leftover radiation after the sun goes down. Each nano-antenna is a spiral as wide as 1/25 the diameter of a human hair, meaning that many of them can be fit into a tiny space, and may be as much as 80 percent efficient.At this time, researchers have a ways to go before the technology is commercialized, but they are hoping that their finished product would be no more expensive as a coating than a cheap layer of carpeting.
[Source: Gizmag]
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