Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Lunar Panel

Power all night long!
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Solar panels are all well and good, but most people aren't at home during the day. Therefore, a lunar panel, harnessing the power of the moon would be much more use.

There is the slight problem of the amount of power you would get with a new moon as opposed to a full moon, and it would be a bit annoying to not be able to boil your kettle for your nightime cocoa due to waxing (or waning). Werewolves would probably not want lunar panels either, as the time when there is the most power is when they are out.

However, the power could be supplemented during moonless nights using Stellar Panels to harness the power of other stars than our own Sun. Or by catching falling stars and instead of putting them in your pocket, keeping them in the cellar as your own power source.

Bedford Van, May 15 2001

Solar powered lighting http://www.eagle-1m...r%20Home%20Page.htm
...or you could charge batteries by solar power during the day to run lights at night. [angel, May 15 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

[link]






       Surely 'solar' panels operate on any light source. I don't think they can distinguish between direct sunlight and that reflected from the moon (although they could because the latter is polarized). Maybe I'm being too literal.
angel, May 15 2001
  

       Just searched œB and can't find an idea. The original suggested that solar tubes be built from everywhere to the far side of the Earth, to pipe in light at night. You could put your collecting panel at the end of your tube if you needed power, or move the panel away from the tube if you just wanted light.
reensure, May 15 2001
  

       Maybe the panels could work by getting energy from tides induced by the moon on the water inside ...
Aristotle, May 15 2001
  

       [Aristotle]'s idea is nowhere near as silly as it may appear, I'm afraid. I read many years ago (in 'Supernature', I think) that some US university had developed an instrument so sensitive that it could detect lunar tides in a cup of coffee.
angel, May 15 2001
  

       How about Molar Panels - small solar/lunar panels covering each tooth in the mouth that are used to, say, charge a small battery? Would encourage the user to smile. Just a thought like...
slancaster, May 15 2001
  

       Okay, how about Polar Panels - solar panels directed at polar bears who, with such white(ish) coats are bound to reflect loads of light?
slancaster, May 15 2001
  

       Just to keep the bad puns going... How about Bowler panels attached to the hats of "city gents" in London (like the Father in Mary Poppins for example). They could collect energy during the day and then take it home at night and discharge it through their umbrella's.
Bedford Van, May 15 2001
  

       What PeterSealy said. While it may have kicked off another rhyming punfest (is that a good thing?), it certainly won't work in real life.   

       Tidal power is of course perfectly reasonable, as long as you live by the seashore.
egnor, May 15 2001
  

       about 11 years ago I made myself a solar hat, using 1 square foot of Sanyo Amorton solar cell. I used it to power my Atari Lynx portable video game, which operated on 6 AA batteries. The cell had an open-circuit voltage around 14V with an operating voltage closer to 8.5V, something like 4W, which was perfect for running the Lynx. The cell made for a hat with a really wide brim, but that also worked as a sunshade so that I could see the LCD display clearly...   

       So your "bowler panel" has already been done, and it worked very well thank you very much. Way back when I was still addicted to the available games I could sit outside and play all day long without any breaks. (Running on regular alkalines or NiCds was a nightmare, you could be in the middle of your highest-scoring game and see the battery fading out...)
hyc, Jun 15 2002
  
      
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