Solar Panel Made From Human Hair

Milan Karki, a young inventor from rural Nepal, claims to have figured out a way to replace the silicon in solar panels with human hair. From the
Daily Mail:
Milan and four classmates initially made the solar panel as an experiment but the teens are convinced it has wide applicability and commercial viability.
'I'm trying to produce commercially and distribute to the districts. We've already sent a couple out to the districts to test for feasibility,' he said.
The solar panel, which produces 9 V (18 W) of energy, costs around £23 to make from raw materials.
Treehugger.com (among others) is skeptical:
if you head over to the Daily Mail and look at the photos, you'll see that the hair covers only a very small surface area on the prototype. This doesn't look like it would be enough to generate the electricity they claim to generate. In fact, if we extrapolate from that small surface area, this implies that a panel completely covered would produce much more power; possibly more than what is possible based on how much solar energy hits that surface
Posted By: Alex | Date:
Thu Sep 10, 2009 |
Permalink |
Total Comments: 9
Category:
Technology
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 1 pages
According to the article, the melanin in the hair is what's powering the solar energy cells. How long until he realizes there's lots more melanin in the skin than in hair and starts making solar panels out of human skin (preferably dark skin)?
Posted by Frosted Donut in Mercer Island on Thu Sep 10, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Posted by Anon on Thu Sep 10, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Actually, since what seems to be needed is silicone, I say we start using old implants and discarded lips and cheekbones....no let's skip all that and just use the fatty tissue for making candles, maybe a colored one to make me rich

Posted by mario in new joysey on Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM
No dice, Mario, for solar cells you need silicon, not silicone. It's not the same thing.
Silicon is the major ingredient in sand and glass and many rocks, but for good solar cells it needs to be purified, which is where most of the expense of making the cells comes in.
My hair would be no good for the solar panels anyway. Being a mixture of blond and gray (white), my hair is highly deficient in melanin.
Then there's the little problem (described in the article Anon linked to) that hair doesn't conduct electricity-- in fact, apparently it's an excellent insulator-- but now we're beating a dead horse.
Posted by Big Gary in Sun City, Texas on Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 06:58 AM
It is presumably possible to make candles from human fat, but I don't want to go there.
Posted by Big Gary in Terlingua, Texas on Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 06:59 AM
I was hoping that by running head first and at full speed, into a brick wall; I would be able to achieve nuclear fusion

Posted by mario in new joysey on Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 08:03 PM
One of those hair today - gone tomorrow ideas.
Posted by Superperson on Sat Sep 12, 2009 at 08:05 AM
Don't worry guys! We can still use the hair to make soy sauce!
Posted by Sakano in Ohio on Sun Sep 13, 2009 at 09:28 AM
i'd give them some of my electricity if the could get my hair to grow back.
Posted by alfred neumann in bangalore on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:22 PM
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