Related Sections: Green Tech
Thermeleon panels make your house energy efficient without solar power
Solar panels are still very expensive and pretty inefficient, not making them the best choice for most people to install on their roofs. But some MIT researchers have created a new type of tile, called Thermeleon, which cheaply makes your house more energy efficient without fancy solar panels.
The panels change color based on the temperature, turning white when it's hot out and reflecting heat and turning black when it's cold to absorb the warmth of the sun's rays. There's no word on these becoming actual products for sale, but they seem to make a heck of a lot of sense to us.
By Shari Brock at 10:31 AM ON 10/09/09
These would be great in Florida! I would love to be able to add a few to my house -- hope they do become available for retail.
By Bdawgfl at 12:19 PM ON 10/09/09
This would be great if they could incorporate it into roofing tiles. Of course they would need to be cheap enough to be attractive to the tract home builders in lieu of standard asphalt shingles. Imagine a whole neighborhood offsetting its heat island effect.
By mccombbj at 12:56 PM ON 10/09/09
Why wouldn't you just get a white metal roof? These tiles would be pretty ugly in the transition stage from black to white. Just start off with a white roof.
By DR Rajiv S at 8:58 AM ON 10/10/09
Excellent NOBEL Prize winning job......President Obama please not
By Dr Santosh at 9:00 AM ON 10/10/09
This is called the INVENTION and DISCOVERY- Hats off to MIT Scholars and really you with this technology definately change the world
By Spaceresearcher at 11:12 PM ON 10/11/09
So they change colour when there hot or cold. How does this help us to generate energy?
As mccombji said, why not just start with a white metal roof? Use a colour changing paint if you want the colour to change with temperature.
I really would like to know what the amazing energy generating factor of these tiles is?
Please do elaborate.
Sean.
By spargonaut at 11:46 PM ON 10/11/09
@spaceresearcher: they don't generate energy, they _conserve_ energy, by reflecting light ( and heat ) during the warmer months, and absorbing light ( and heat ) during the cooler months.
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spargonaut:
@spaceresearcher: they don't generate energy, they _conserve_ energy, by reflecting light ( and heat ) during the ...More »