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"Human beings hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn; when they do, which isn't often, on their own, the hard way."
- Robert Heinlein
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| Solar Electric Paint - Black Power | ||
| A black-colored paint that can be sprayed on, making any surface a solar power generator. |
This is such a great idea - there must be an engineer who can make this happen. All you would need as a flat surface that is angled to receive solar radiation and presto, you have solar power ready to use.
| What's finally knocked the bottom out is this new solar electric paint. Black Power, they call it. It turns sunlight into electricity, just like any solar power converter, but you spray it on. Place your cables and then spray over them. All you need is sunlight and room. |
| Technovelgy from The Woman in Del Rey Crater,
by Larry Niven. Published by Flatlander in 1995 Additional resources -
|
You can already use black paint (matte black) to solar heat a room; if you have a big south-facing wall try it out. The conversion of solar power to electricity, though, that's a tall order without a panel full of ICs.
Read more about the history of photovoltaics, as well as a very early reference to solar power in sf, at the article on the sunpower screen - solar cell array for vehicle power from Robert Heinlein's 1940 story Coventry.
'Black Power' has seen a remarkable confirmation in real life - see Niven's 'Black Power' Now Available In Infrared.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Woman in Del Rey Crater
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to The Woman in Del Rey Crater
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Solar Electric Paint - Black Power-related
news articles:
- Niven's 'Black Power' Now Available In Infrared
- Cheap Paint-On Flexible Solar Panels
- Photovoltaic Paint On Steel Sheets By The Corus Group
- Spray-On Nano-Ink Solar Cells
- Solar Power Paint For Any Size Solar Cells
- Printable Liquid Solar Cells
- Transparent Solar Cell Film Has Clear Advantages
- Peel And Stick Thin Film Solar Cells
- Low Cost Spray-On Solar Cells
- Colloidal Quantum Dots Make Spray-On Solar Cells Possible
- Your Solar Electric Paint Is Ready, Larry Niven
- Mercedes Benz Solar Paint
| Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics |
| You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic... |
| ICE Buys Shock Gloves Like Batman's |
| When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You? |
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
