Teen invents £23 solar panel;could solve world's energy needs

I have a question. I never really thought about this until now. Lets say you put a solar panel outside in your garden, will it absorb the sunlight so that the plants don't get any? I was just curious because everything has repercussions.

To the O.P. I think that solar energy is very simple and can be done by all of us. But the trouble is the money. This guy could have saved us some serious cash in the future.

The government will begin to tax human hair. Those with long hair pay more. People will grow their hair long secretly and hide it under hats to evade taxation. Hats, haircuts and disposal of cut human hair will become strictly regulated.

Then, synthetic human hair will be invented, bypassing the need for real human hair. There will be horrible environmental side-effects of hair production, but these will be covered up in the interest of the (now hair-based) world economy.

Originally posted by rogerstigers

Originally posted by lucentenigma
That would be Nanosolar. I consider them the good guys, even if they are holding tight and fast to their formula for the time being. They have a big announcement tomorrow, apprently. I am anxious to see what it is. Hope the don't Alex Jones us.

Nanosolar

I would like to vote that we henceforth use the verb "Alex Jones" to describe any anticlimactic "announcement" in the wake of substantial hype!

Originally posted by Trams
I have a question. I never really thought about this until now. Lets say you put a solar panel outside in your garden, will it absorb the sunlight so that the plants don't get any? I was just curious because everything has repercussions.

To the O.P. I think that solar energy is very simple and can be done by all of us. But the trouble is the money. This guy could have saved us some serious cash in the future.

The panel will soak up the sunlight that shines directly on it while the plants soak up the light that shines on them. So long as you do not have the plants in the shadow the panel, they do not compete with one another.

Barbers will be rich!

Can we believe even for a second that no one ever has come across a material or a substance that could greatly enhance the efficiency of solar panels so solar energy would be able to cover most of our domestic needs?

I don't!

If this kid can do it with hair, then how difficult should it be?
Of course the news are a "hoax", a "prank", the news outlet is "sensational" and all those affirmations from unimaginative people they have to usually appear like clockwork to discredit everything, everywhere. Maybe. But we are all as gullible as it can be since we still rely on big corporations for our domestic power needs.

I'd have to actually see this thing work. Hair isn't known for it's conductive qualities. I'd be as apt to believe that someone could make a short wave radio out of coconuts and palm fronds.

Originally posted by die_another_day
Plants LIVE off of photosynthesis, and they only have a MAXIMUM of 3% efficiency.
........
You will probably need a ton of hair to power a light bulb.

OK the Daily Mail aside (I don't like that paper either) 3% is good enough for the plants! - How efficient do you think other fuels are? the petrol in a car? Wind power? Nuclear generators? Nuclear weapons?

The only 100% conversion of energy is (so far as I know) still theoretical and it's a matter/anti matter reaction, next to that you have fusion (35%??) fission (less - like 15, 20%??) and then everything else.

3% ain't bad - not when devices are getting lower and lower power needs.

And a ton of hair to power a light bulb?

The solar panel, which produces 9 V (18 W) of energy Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk... TDRpA3

that's quite a bit of power - just cos your used to screwing a 100 watt bulb into a 240v supply don't mean that loads of ultra bright LED's won't do the job just as well - and probably more reliably.

reply to post by tauristercus

Was this "new concept" developed in any leading industrialized country ? Nope ... in Nepal of all places !

First world arrogance. Do you think the other 5 billion people in the world have no brains or science skills? Plenty of developments are coming from the rest of the world. Look at Brazil and Russia. No facts, bluster based on conceit.

And what possessed this kid to even THINK that human hair could be used to convert sunlight to electricity ?

Spin language: 'Kid' and baseless intellectual aggression, no facts.

Not exactly the sort of idea that would occur easily and without a supporting experimental framework behind it.

What do you know? Ideas come to untrained people all the time. Do you have any idea of the history of science? It's littered with brilliant self-taught people. No facts, mouthing off with no backing.

I'm ready to call BS on this one.

Back at you.











[edit on 19f20093amWed, 09 Sep 2009 10:10:55 -050055 by HiAliens]

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


How does human hair cost anything at all?

Barber shops, and there must be at least 15 of them in my smallish town alone, dump the stuff by the skip load every day!

Go to hairdressers, hairdresser colleges, army/navy/air force induction centers, anywhere where people have or have to have their hair cut, and get the stuff for free.

reply to post by spikey


Does it have to be human?

What hairy mammals can you shave in India?

reply to post by Trams


Pardon?

What...you think your solar panel is going to be the size of your whole garden? Or you think the panel 'sucks' all the light to it?!! Like a black hole or something? You're kidding yeah?

Then you say you think solar is simple...

xaxaxa barbers will be rich XD S&F
i must contact this younf fellow. hes a genius it seems.
i hope he dosnt sell the rights to some stupid company that will hide everything.
they will probably try to intimidate and buy him,poor dude

reply to post by Now_Then


Hey...now theres a thought...great example of lateral thinking Now_Then!

You're right...animals could be farmed not for meat, but for hair!!

Which species has the fastest growing hair? I was thinking sheep, but that's technically wool, not hair, so the properties may be different...maybe we can use the old worn out woolly jumpers/sweaters and blankets etc. Recycle them into solar panels...

reply to post by spikey


Actually in an odd way he does have a point... Most surfaces do reflect a certain amount of the suns energy somewhere else, and also radiate stored energy - the sea for example is an important heat sink, with out it temperatures would swing much wider through day and night.

Now if you change the properties of massive areas of land/sea then you would in effect alter the system. - Mind you we've already done that with all our roads and other things - but it's still a point.

well this concept is not as far fetched as it seems.

Hair is affected by relative humidity so it will always contain some moisture thus aiding the conductivity of the hair. Even though wood is a non-conductor, timber with a high moisture content will conduct electricity.

Given the fact that this young man comes from Nepal would suggest he is poor, (as compared with us western folk) so his limited access to "conventional" materials has encouraged/forced him to investigate avenues not previously considered.

Now as far as farming human hair goes, I think this will be unnecessary.

Think Sheep!

reply to post by Now_Then


Well...OK, fair enough.

But the way i read it (in disbelief) was that he thought most of the sunlight would be prevented from reaching the ground, and the vegetation would suffer...Our homes, sheds and outbuildings block the sunlight to the ground already, so if you hang them on the walls or on the roof, the net added effect on vegetation is...well, nothing at all is it.

I had a mental image of a guy standing at his back door, looking in horror at his very dark garden, and the swirling vortex of all the ambient light being sucked into a solar panel on his roof..

reply to post by warrenb


"Could solve worlds energy needs"

That headline needs to be shredded. Whilst this is very interesting and could actualy be used by small villages it is hardly a cure for the worlds energy problems. It produces 9 volts! Now that is enough to run some small electrical fans, lights, maybe a very tiny fridge but it's not going to solve the worlds energy problems.

I respect this young man for creating a truly ingenius, nah, Mcguyver like contraption but the daily mail is blowing it out of all proportion, which is something they are well known for. Useful for small villages to provide some light? Yes absolutely, but lets not over sell it.

Edit because i can't type very well

[edit on 9-9-2009 by ImaginaryReality1984]

This looks like a hoax. Every other place this is posted has tons of people claiming this is fake based upon the tiny amount of hair that is stretched between the nodes or whatever electrical term.

However, when I read the title I said "holy Crapnolde!!"

Because I had just thought something along these lines a week and a half ago.
I took my dog outside for a walk and after being outside for less than a minute I reached up and noticed that my hair was incredibly hot.
I thought there _has_ to be some way to utilize that or that maybe having lots of little fibers that can absorb heat quickly would be a better alternative to panel-like devices. Or some other half-formed idea.

reply to post by SpacePunk


I am pretty sure the Professor on Gilligans Island did create a radio or telephone out of cocunuts, so it must be true.

This has to be a hoax. So we spent billions trying to find the best solar panel and this kid creates one out of hair.

If this young chap has invented this wonder solar power device, I am sure one of the big energy companies will pay him a visit, maybe shell or someone.
They will probably offer alot of money for his invention.

If not they will probably steal his idea.

Most types of clean energy production have been invented already but I believe the big corporations already hold the patterns to them so they can keep prices high and make themselves as much profit as possible.