To help you celebrate Earth Day, Bill Nye discusses some unexpected ways we can save our environment, including raising the standard of living for women and girls. Then, you’ll learn about why spicy solar panels capture more sunlight — with a little help from capsaicin.
To help you celebrate Earth Day, Bill Nye discusses some unexpected ways we can save our environment, including raising the standard of living for women and girls. Then, you’ll learn about why spicy solar panels capture more sunlight — with a little help from capsaicin.
Additional resources from Bill Nye:
Spicy solar panels capture more sunlight by Grant Currin
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/bill-nyes-earth-day-tips-to-save-our-planet
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about some unexpected ways we can save our environment, with special guest Bill Nye. Then, you’ll learn about why spicy solar panels capture more sunlight.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
ASHLEY: Today is Earth Day, an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection. And who would have thought back on the first Earth Day in 1970 that half a century later, our environment would be one of the most important issues in the world? Hmm, seems like the kind of question we should ask someone who was AT the first Earth Day… so how about Bill Nye? Yes, the legendary Bill Nye, who you may know as “the science guy,” joins us today to talk about the beginnings of the special day — and where he thinks we should go from here.
[CLIP 4:15]
CODY: So to recap: we need clean water, reliable renewable energy, and… access to the internet? To raise the standard of living of women and girls?
[CLIP 2:00]
CODY: Bill told us that he strongly advocates making the internet a public utility, because that would help people in rural areas gain access, and that would help us get everyone connected and on the way to a better future. There’s a reason for the saying “the rising tide lifts all boats.”
ASHLEY: Bill also told us he’s very optimistic about our future. There’s a lot of work to do, but saving our planet is certainly work worth doing. Again, that was Bill Nye, and you can find links to pick up his latest book — and to check out his podcast, Science Rules! — in today’s show notes.
What do solar panels and pico de gallo have in common? They’re both better when they’re spicy. That’s according to new research showing the compound that gives chile peppers their spice has helped engineers create some of the most efficient solar panels ever made.
Solar panels have traditionally been made of silicon, but a new generation of the green tech is combining that classic material with cells made out of perovskites [puh-RAHV-skites]. Those minerals are cheaper and easier to process and are also really, really good at absorbing energy from the sun. But there’s a problem: they aren’t so good at converting that energy into electricity, which is a bummer.
That’s why researchers in China set out to find a new material to boost their efficiency without raising costs or slowing down production. The material needed to be cheap, abundant, and delicious.
Wait, that’s not right. It needed to be cheap and abundant but not necessarily delicious.
Anyway, the researchers had a rough idea of what physical qualities they were looking for, and capsaicin fit the bill. That’s the compound that makes peppers spicy! The researchers made some solar panels with the compound and compared their performance to a control group of solar panels without any capsaicin. The results were really promising!
The capsaicin-laced panels were 15% more efficient than the normal ones in converting solar energy to electricity. That’s a huge boost!
The capsaicin does its thing at a very tiny scale. The molecules cause the grains in the solar cells to expand. That matters because the grains are the part of the panel that’s actively converting energy. The capsaicin also helps by bringing extra electrons to the party. Under normal circumstances, key elements of the solar panels have an electron deficit. Adding capsaicin turns that deficit into a surplus. All those extra electrons let the panels generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight.
But beyond that, researchers aren’t quite sure how it works. Analyses have shown that the new panels have more free electrons at the surface, and it looks like some of the efficiency gains happen because less energy is turned into heat.
All in all, this is good news for the planet because the new solar panels are cheaper and easier to make than traditional ones.
I think I’ll celebrate the good news with some chips and salsa — extra spicy, please.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned today
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s last story was written by Grant Currin, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Curiosity Daily is produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow and we’ll spice things up once again, to help you learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!