Sustainable thermal energy harvest for generating electricity
Open accessAbstract
Electricity is the lifeblood of modern society. However, the predominant source of electricity generation still relies on non-renewable fossil fuels, whose combustion releases greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. The increasing demand for energy and escalating environmental concerns necessitate proactive measures to develop innovative green energy technologies capable of both cooling the Earth and generating electricity. Here, we look forward to an interdisciplinary power system integrating solar absorbers, radiative coolers, and thermoelectric generators. This system can simultaneously harvest thermal energy from the sun and from cold space, thereby transforming the challenges posed by global warming into opportunities for the production of clean electricity. We underscore recent advancements in this field and address key challenges while also exploring forward-looking opportunities in the foreseeable future. The proposed integrated energy technology achieves uninterrupted power supply through the unrestricted capture of thermal energy, offering a robust alternative pathway for next-generation sustainable energy technologies.
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Many researchers have proposed the installation of PV modules on kilometers-tall towers near the lunar poles to harvest more solar energy.
“Many researchers have proposed the installation of PV modules on kilometers-tall towers near the lunar poles to harvest more solar energy. 163”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [163]
The Main text discusses harvesting solar energy and suggests extraterrestrial exploration as a possible application, but it does not discuss PV modules on kilometer-tall towers near the lunar poles or proposals by multiple researchers. Searches for lunar-pole towers and photovoltaic installations found no passage addressing that claim; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Zhang, S., Liu, Z., Zhang, X., Wu, Z., & Hu, Z.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Zhenhua
- Hu, Zhiyu
- Venue
- The Innovation
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-03
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 100591
- ISSN
- 2666-6758 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10897886
- OpenAlex
- W4391605176
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 14
- FWCI
- 8.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Innovation (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
- State University of New York
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (51776126, 52202179, 62201345)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems
- Keywords
- solar thermal energy harvesting, radiative cooling, thermoelectric generators, solar absorbers, renewable electricity generation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, sustainable energy technologies
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