“We were actually interested in making a simple sensor for humidity in the air. The device they have come up with is the size of a thumbnail, one-fifth the width of a human hair, and capable of generating roughly one microwatt – enough to light a single pixel on a large LED screen. Theoretically, 20,000 of these disks stacked into a washing machine sized cube could generate 10 kilowatt hours of electricity per day — enough to power the average European household 24/7, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. And they’re hoping to have a working prototype available by next year! The main question at this point is whether economies of scale will eventually enable this new type of green technology to become price competitive with existing solar or wind power projects.

Source: The Guardian July 07, 2023 05:12 UTC