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According to reports recently organized by the American Physicists Organization Network, researchers at the University of Michigan found that light can also produce a huge magnetic effect, and it is expected to develop a "photocell" for storing solar energy, replacing traditional semiconductor solar cells. The study was published in the recently published Journal of Applied Physics, and the school is applying for patent protection for this method.
This method of manufacturing "photocells" may overturn the centennial dogma of physics. Light has electrical and magnetic properties, but scientists have long believed that the magnetic field effect of light is very weak and can be ignored.
Stephen Rand, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, physics and applied physics at the University of Michigan, and colleagues found that when light is passed through an insulating material at a moderate intensity, the optical effect of the light field is 100 million times stronger than previously thought. In this case, magnetic induction corresponds to a very strong electrical effect. The principle of this method is "light rectification" that has not been studied before. Researcher William Fischer said that in traditional light rectification, light can only form voltages by separating the positive and negative charges in some special symmetrical crystalline materials through its electric field effect. New research has found that, under appropriate conditions, light can produce "light rectification" through magnetic field effects in other materials.
Rand explained: “In traditional solar cells, the light entering the material is absorbed, generating heat to separate the charge. In our method, the light is not absorbed, but the energy is stored in the magnetic moment, which will bring a kind of New solar cells that do not require semiconductors have a low thermal load, and strong light can also produce high magnetic induction, ultimately providing a photocapacitable power supply similar to a capacitor-powered device."
New technologies will make solar power cheaper. Researchers expect that the use of improved materials will result in a solar conversion efficiency of 10%, which is equivalent to current commercial-grade solar cells. This summer they will use lasers in the laboratory and then expand into sunlight.
“Currently, manufacturing solar cells requires a lot of semiconductor processing. And we only need some lenses to collect sunlight and some fibers to conduct. Glass is a good material, and transparent ceramics may be better. No complex processes are required.†Fischer Say.