During one of my off late recurring sessions of black-out, where I stare at nothing in particular, thinking about vague things, I came up with the idea of using Silicon based photo voltaic cells in a new way.
We all know that Silicon being a semi-conductor (having an energy gap in between that of metals and non-metals) gets excited by a certain frequency of electro-magnetic radiation, which leads to production of holes (absence of electrons) which leads to a current in the circuit. Since, photons of visible light are able to provide this requisite energy, solar cells are used in a few commercial purposes as an alternative, clean energy source.
However, this method has one disadvantage. Due to the rotation of Earth about its axis, we do not get the electricity during night or even cloudy days, when there is no sunlight; and even during the length of a day, the orientation of the solar panels needs to be adjusted continuously to get the highest intensity of light, thus making solar energy obsolete for large scale purpose.
Which brings us to my new idea, that of using solar photo voltaic effect to produce electricity from the residual radioactivity from the fuel used in nuclear plants or spent fuel which needs to be disposed off safely, and has no use. After all, the energy carried by the Gamma rays produced as a result of radioactivity has a much higher energy (though that won't influence the amount of electricity so produced) than visual light, so it can very well be used. There are still a few loose points in this theory regarding how to maximise the intensity of the Gamma rays to an extent as to make for economical electricity production (which unlike in the case of visible light will be available round the clock and throughout the year),and if there will be some effect on the Silicon nuclei as a result of this residual radioactivity, which might affect its properties. There is also the issue of practicality of such an experiment, as maintenance of the solar panels will be difficult in such high radiation zones.
Nevertheless, I personally believe that such alternatives need to be considered if we want solar photo voltaic technology to be feasible enough for large scale purpose.
We all know that Silicon being a semi-conductor (having an energy gap in between that of metals and non-metals) gets excited by a certain frequency of electro-magnetic radiation, which leads to production of holes (absence of electrons) which leads to a current in the circuit. Since, photons of visible light are able to provide this requisite energy, solar cells are used in a few commercial purposes as an alternative, clean energy source.
However, this method has one disadvantage. Due to the rotation of Earth about its axis, we do not get the electricity during night or even cloudy days, when there is no sunlight; and even during the length of a day, the orientation of the solar panels needs to be adjusted continuously to get the highest intensity of light, thus making solar energy obsolete for large scale purpose.
Which brings us to my new idea, that of using solar photo voltaic effect to produce electricity from the residual radioactivity from the fuel used in nuclear plants or spent fuel which needs to be disposed off safely, and has no use. After all, the energy carried by the Gamma rays produced as a result of radioactivity has a much higher energy (though that won't influence the amount of electricity so produced) than visual light, so it can very well be used. There are still a few loose points in this theory regarding how to maximise the intensity of the Gamma rays to an extent as to make for economical electricity production (which unlike in the case of visible light will be available round the clock and throughout the year),and if there will be some effect on the Silicon nuclei as a result of this residual radioactivity, which might affect its properties. There is also the issue of practicality of such an experiment, as maintenance of the solar panels will be difficult in such high radiation zones.
Nevertheless, I personally believe that such alternatives need to be considered if we want solar photo voltaic technology to be feasible enough for large scale purpose.
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