Renewable Energy – 2020 Dyson Prize
At the end of 2020 the future of renewable energy made an exciting development!
While the motivation behind discovering renewable energy solutions is certainly not lacking, many that had been discovered so far can only generate electricity in the right environmental conditions. For example, solar panels require the visible light from sunny days to capture and convert light into energy and must be facing the sun to do so.
The solution to this was invented by 27-year-old Carvey Ehren Maigue from Mapua University in the Philippines! The AuREUS System Technology is a material that can be attached to any pre-existing structure or surface, and it has the ability to harvest ultraviolet (UV) light and convert it into visible light to generate electricity.
When the particles in his material absorb UV light they glow with visible light, which can then be transformed into electricity. Current prototypes of this material can successfully achieve this process while attaching to existing windows and buildings.
Carvey received the first annual sustainability award (out of an impressive 1,800 entries.) The student plans to use his $40,000 prize money to further develop his invention for the betterment and health of our planet’s natural resources. Talk about a BRIGHT IDEA!
Source: James Dyson Awards