MadSci Network: Chemistry |
Hi Mike, Thanks for your question. I apologize for not getting back with you sooner, but I am a graduate student and have been very busy during the last week. Your question is a good one, and you are not the first one to wonder why we don't develop ways to harness more energetic wavelengths of light. The two reasons that first came to mind for me were 1) Most of the UV radiation of sunlight is blocked by the atmosphere, and 2) UV rays are so energetic that they are actually damaging to most materials. I looked around on the web and found a few places where people had been discussing this issue. The best one that I found is on a forum at: http://www. popsci.com/community/forums/inventors/92.html Someone there asked exactly the same question as you, and several people posted replies to it. One of them mentioned that most of the radiation emitted by the sun is actually in the visible range, and that more energetic wavelengths (which include UV) account for less than 10% of total solar output. However, there are some people who are working on increasing the efficiency of solar power generation and one of the ways to do this is to try and collect radiation from a wider range of wavelengths. One of the answers on the above mentioned forum discusses this at: http://w ww.popsci.com/community/forums/inventors/92/10.html Another web reference that I found on using UV radiation was at: http://www.saflex.com/Sweets/s w06.htm This company sells glass panes that absorb primarily in the UV range and use the absorbed energy to help heat buildings. Hope that answers your question. Have a happy holiday season. Sincerely, J. Todd Holland
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