Essentially, would it power itself forever? I mean disregarding how you would start the cycle, is it possible for the light to power the panel, which brings the light?
Make sense?
2006-08-24 13:46:47 · 6 answers · asked by KLD it. 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
There's no such thing as perpetual motion or anything else. Inefficiencies and entropy eat away at everything. Both the source of light and the solar panel would have to operate at 100% efficiency and that's impossible.
2006-08-24 14:00:59 · answer #1 · answered by Jerry L 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not all the light from the lamp would get to the panel, and some energy would be lost to heat as the electricity traveled from the source of power to the lamp, additionally, some light would reflect off the panel and probably be lost. I'm not saying it's impossible, just impossible by all of today's means. Then again, Physics were seldom my strong point.
2006-08-24 21:05:34 · answer #2 · answered by fmg134s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No because of efficiency. An incandescent light bulb converts about 5% of the electricity in light (fluorescent light is around 20%), while the best solar panels convert 18% of the light they receive into electricity. With a 3.6% recovery in the best scenario, darkness will happen quite quickly.
2006-08-24 20:53:40 · answer #3 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. The efficiency of a solar panel is something like 30%. It would have to be 100% to power itself forever.
2006-08-24 20:50:53 · answer #4 · answered by davidosterberg1 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, because the light would consume more power than the solar cell could generate.
2006-08-24 20:52:10 · answer #5 · answered by Albannach 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you would lose energy in the form of heat. So you would get diminishing returns.
2006-08-24 20:53:27 · answer #6 · answered by BettyBoop 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋