To collect as wide as possible solar energy spectrum ?

[Externet]

Hi.

Solar radiation in all its flavors of infrared, visible light, ultraviolets and all the rest whatever they be hitting a roof for a standard figure of 1KW/m²

What device could collect the most solar energy of all kinds installed on a roof ?  Photovoltaics can collect about 18% into direct current.

[exchemist]

2 hours ago, Externet said:

Hi.

Solar radiation in all its flavors of infrared, visible light, ultraviolets and all the rest whatever they be hitting a roof for a standard figure of 1KW/m²

What device could collect the most solar energy of all kinds installed on a roof ?  Photovoltaics can collect about 18% into direct current.

I suppose a matt  black surface would collect most, but would convert it all to fairly low temperature heat, which is not as useful as electricity.

[Sensei]

Quote

To collect as wide as possible solar energy spectrum ?

Dyson sphere..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

 

3 hours ago, Externet said:

What device could collect the most solar energy of all kinds installed on a roof ? 

The efficiency of the solar collector is 75%.

e.g.  instead of heating water with gas or electricity, you can have hot water for bathing or showering without energy costs.. but you have to take a bath at the right time of the day, not at any time.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Sensei

[swansont]

2 hours ago, Sensei said:

Dyson sphere..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

What does that have to do with the spectrum?

 

6 hours ago, Externet said:

Hi.

Solar radiation in all its flavors of infrared, visible light, ultraviolets and all the rest whatever they be hitting a roof for a standard figure of 1KW/m²

What device could collect the most solar energy of all kinds installed on a roof ?  Photovoltaics can collect about 18% into direct current.

Collection vs collection to produce electricity are different things. As exchemist says, a matte black surface will collect a lot of solar energy, as long as it’s also black in the IR, but that doesn’t mean it’ll convert the energy to electricity. Which one are you trying to maximize?

[Externet]

4 hours ago, swansont said:

Which one are you trying to maximize?

Thanks.    After the photovoltaic layer under the sun, there is not much useable energy to collect the whole 1 KW/m²    

Solar panels give me winter electric heating by accumulating all year radiation.   The panel aluminium frames are almost 5cm void under the cells.  Closing the lower frame void I can make their heated air chamber to circulate into a dwelling to yield more heat.   How else to wring the 1 KW/m² leftovers ?

[swansont]

Multi-layer cells allow each layer to be optimized for different wavelength ranges. Efficiency approaching 50%

https://physicsworld.com/a/sunny-superpower-solar-cells-close-in-on-50-efficiency/

 

[Ken Fabian]

The ability to utilise Infrared would be a big step forward - and not primarily for achieving higher conversion efficiency in sunlight but by making it possible to use low grade heat, including back radiation from nighttime sky or heat from the ground, or waste heat. It would open up the potential for 24/7 energy from a wide variety of sources, either to avoid storage requirements or by opening new possibilities for thermal energy storage.

Besides thermo-electric generators there are Optical Rectennas that might manage this as well some other possibilities arising out of graphene research - but none are standing out as viable. Yet.