It can be one of the most expensive items in the world. It can also be so cheap, you can get them for less than 50 cents. It breaks very easily. But it can also be 117 times stronger than steel! What is this all powerful material?
(This is Carbon)
Carbon has many forms. Carbon can exist as diamonds, which are claimed to be “Women’s best friend” and is one of the most precious and expensive gems in the world! Carbon can also exist as graphite which is used to produce the very cheap pencil leads that we all use. Carbon can also exists as Carbon Nanotube which is a material that is 117 times stronger than steel! Carbon Nanotube is so strong that it is the only material in the world we can use to build an elevator that will bring us to the Moon! How crazy is that right?
Carbon can also exist as Graphene. Graphene is a very thin layer of Carbon. How thin is “very thin”? It is exactly one layer of Carbon atom, which is the thinnest form of Carbon! Graphene is used in solar panels to convert solar energy into electrical energy! Previously, we have discussed how solar panels can provide us with unlimited free energy and how only 40 minutes of sunlight will provide us with electricity for 1 entire year! Now, there is going to be even more improvement!
(This is the world’s largest solar farm! But everything will soon change…)
Scientists have recently found a way to chemically alter the Graphene. By “exciting” the Graphene, the scientists are able to create “Doped Graphene” that can produce 2 times the amount of electricity when receiving the same amount of light! This is because the “Doped Graphene” releases 2 electrons instead of 1 electron when exposed to sunlight! This means that have 1 “Doped” solar panel is as good as having 2 regular solar panels, allowing us to generate more electricity with less land and less resources 🙂
Here is a quick summary of what the future of energy holds:
- Sheets of Carbon can be stuck onto every window to generate electricity
- Only a relatively small part of the world needs to be filled with solar panels
- The land needed for solar panels is now cut into half
- Our future solar panels can transfer electricity by shooting laser beams onto other windows!
- We can have unlimited, free and clean energy!
Where do you think will be a nice place for Singaporeans to place solar panels? Is Singapore suited for solar panels? Do you think solar panels are the future of sustainable energy?
Sources:
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/tweaked-graphene-could-double-electricity-generated-solar
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