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submitted 1 week ago by ooli3@sopuli.xyz to c/science@beehaw.org
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[-] Quexotic@beehaw.org 5 points 6 days ago

I read inefficiencies of solar and immediately thought of this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQ9nt2ZeGM

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 week ago

The waste heat generated by a person is one of the main concerns with designing space suits. If the tech can be scaled to accommodate that, it could change things. Unfortunately it's less useful down here.

[-] hallettj@leminal.space 4 points 1 week ago

It looks like the reverse solar panel absorbs infrared radiation, which is a slow way to shed heat

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah that too. Could work for the niche applications mentioned, like low power satellites...

[-] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago

Ah, so the matrix was right...

[-] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 4 points 1 week ago

Hmm not useful on land but still potentially valuable elsewhere.

[-] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

Missed opportunity to call them "lunar panels"

[-] hallettj@leminal.space 7 points 1 week ago

But they don't have anything to do with the moon. They harvest energy from Earth's black body radiation

[-] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 8 points 1 week ago

So they should have been called terral panels.

[-] hallettj@leminal.space 3 points 1 week ago

That's a good one!

I was thinking, Earth's radiation is solar energy, emitting back into space after being absorbed. So a normal solar panel gets solar energy coming down, and this thing gets solar energy going back up. So "reverse" or "upside-down" make sense from that perspective. But wind and hydroelectric also harvest solar energy indirectly. Should we call the sideways solar panels? So yeah, I think "terral" avoids a rabbit hole of madness.

[-] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

Yeah I know, it just sounded catchy to me

this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
19 points (95.2% liked)

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