A novel invention for collecting energy from the sun

[ALine]

I developed and prototype for an invention for collecting energy from the sun.

It stores a maximum of .6V. It is very inefficient and I feel as though the prototype can be improved dramatically.

 

(A novel invention for collecting energy from the sun.) <- real title

 

[swansont]

Details?

BTW, volts isn’t a measure of how much energy you’ve collected.

[ALine]

Here is an image of the prototype...

I received a multimeter read out before and after exposing it to the sun and got an increase in voltage over time.

I "think" it works on a principle similar to osmosis but with electrons, however I am most certain this may be wrong.

[studiot]

17 hours ago, ALine said:

Here is an image of the prototype...

I received a multimeter read out before and after exposing it to the sun and got an increase in voltage over time.

I "think" it works on a principle similar to osmosis but with electrons, however I am most certain this may be wrong.

Yes but did you understand swansont's comment that voltage is not a measure of energy ?

 

Anyway thanks for the picture.

 

It looks as though you have wrpped some copper or brass foil around a silver metal (aluminium or stainless steel) bowl.

 

This constitutes a bimetallic coupling which will automatically generate a thermally sensitive potential difference.

Thus if you expose the wrapped bowl to hot sun its temperature will ris, as will the voltage.

So yes you could use this to generate some current but 0.6 volts is not going to get you much power.

 

[John Cuthber]

The value of 0.6 volts looks a lot like a single galvanic cell.
The voltage will change with temperature.
I rather doubt it's doing any "collecting energy from the sun".

[mistermack]

I don't know the theory behind bimetallic coupling, but surely the important measure is not voltage but current. O.6 volts, across an infinite resistance, equals zero current. So what happens when a less than infinite resistance is connected across it ? Does the voltage drop to zero, and if not, what does it drop to? 

I believe that you can charge a human up to a high voltage compared to Earth, if you wear insulating shoes and walk on a nylon carpet. When you touch a conductor, you get a spark, and then nothing. There's virtually no useful current available, even though you've generated a high voltage. 

So put a known resistance across the circuit, and measure the current. Then you have some relevant facts.

[grayson]

iI don't know what you mean by 6v. But you can use a thermoelectric generator to convert heat into electricity. I would recommend using copper, or tungsten, depending on if you want it stored or flowed. Tungsten is a terrible heat conductor, which makes it good for "STORING" heat. Copper is a great heat conductor. this makes it able to go to the generator. I would recommend tungsten though.

[Mars Northman]

On 8/24/2023 at 10:42 PM, mistermack said:

I don't know the theory behind bimetallic coupling, but surely the important measure is not voltage but current. O.6 volts, across an infinite resistance, equals zero current. So what happens when a less than infinite resistance is connected across it ? Does the voltage drop to zero, and if not, what does it drop to? 

I believe that you can charge a human up to a high voltage compared to Earth, if you wear insulating shoes and walk on a nylon carpet. When you touch a conductor, you get a spark, and then nothing. There's virtually no useful current available, even though you've generated a high voltage. 

So put a known resistance across the circuit, and measure the current. Then you have some relevant facts.

Actually, since he stated it STORES energy the relevant unit is not current (flow) but capacitance.

And yes it appears to be a bimetallic coupling as previously stated.

 

Forming a galvanic cell would require having some type of coating between the metals would it not? Not judging but this does not look "engineered" enough for this to be the case, especially since thread starter invented it (definitely not a novel invention though).

 

Love threads like these, keep experimenting (and reading on your own) and asking 'stupid' questions about them. If I may offer a suggestion for future inventions; Document document document, details of construction operation etc. Think of it as an engineer AND a scientist would, the engineer keeps drawings specs etc of everything and the scientist formulates and conducts detailed measurements of the results.

The goal of both endeavours should be SIMPLE repeatability, anyone who has access to your materials on an invention should be easily able to build their own copy and perform the same measurements (hopefully with exciting results).

 

Scientia es potentia.