Scientists Are Using Coffee To Harness Solar Energy #SolarPower #Coffee
It turns out coffee is particularly effective at absorbing and transferring solar energy (in the form of heat). Via Sprudge:
According to Phys.org, current methods for converting solar rays into usable energy involve “the indirect absorption of sunlight, where the efficiency is generally limited as a result of major convective heat losses into the surrounding environment.” One potentially advantageous alternative is direct absorption using a liquid as “both solar energy absorber and heat carrier,” which has the benefit over indirect absorption of less “convective and radiative heat losses,” meaning a more efficient collection of energy. And as you may have guessed, the liquid, in this case, is coffee.
After testing the coffee colloid, the researchers found it “showed competitive optical and thermal properties for direct solar absorption” and that it performed “similarly to the traditional indirect absorption technique.”
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
