Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Solar Electric Paint - Black Power | ||
| A black-colored paint that can be sprayed on, making any surface a solar power generator. |
This is such a great idea - there must be an engineer who can make this happen. All you would need as a flat surface that is angled to receive solar radiation and presto, you have solar power ready to use.
| What's finally knocked the bottom out is this new solar electric paint. Black Power, they call it. It turns sunlight into electricity, just like any solar power converter, but you spray it on. Place your cables and then spray over them. All you need is sunlight and room. |
| Technovelgy from The Woman in Del Rey Crater,
by Larry Niven. Published by Flatlander in 1995 Additional resources -
|
You can already use black paint (matte black) to solar heat a room; if you have a big south-facing wall try it out. The conversion of solar power to electricity, though, that's a tall order without a panel full of ICs.
Read more about the history of photovoltaics, as well as a very early reference to solar power in sf, at the article on the sunpower screen - solar cell array for vehicle power from Robert Heinlein's 1940 story Coventry.
'Black Power' has seen a remarkable confirmation in real life - see Niven's 'Black Power' Now Available In Infrared.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 7 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Woman in Del Rey Crater
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to The Woman in Del Rey Crater
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
Solar Electric Paint - Black Power-related
news articles:
- Niven's 'Black Power' Now Available In Infrared
- Cheap Paint-On Flexible Solar Panels
- Photovoltaic Paint On Steel Sheets By The Corus Group
- Spray-On Nano-Ink Solar Cells
- Solar Power Paint For Any Size Solar Cells
- Printable Liquid Solar Cells
- Transparent Solar Cell Film Has Clear Advantages
- Peel And Stick Thin Film Solar Cells
- Low Cost Spray-On Solar Cells
- Colloidal Quantum Dots Make Spray-On Solar Cells Possible
- Your Solar Electric Paint Is Ready, Larry Niven
- Mercedes Benz Solar Paint
| Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather? |
| Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948! |
| Special Lights For Driverless Cars! |
| 'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars' |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
