Another reuse for human hair has been discovered thanks to a young bright man from Nepal. Using human hair, the young man and his friends, invented a method to power more affordable solar panels for their village and hopefully the rest of the world. Is it Solhair Power?
The young man, Milan Karki, comes from a village in rural Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. In Nepal it is difficult for many to access electricity. For those fortunate enough to have electricity, shortages are still a big problem.
Solar panels would provide the much needed electricity for places like Nepal all over the world, but solar panels do not come cheaply. They are expensive to make and maintain. So, as part of school project and a life long dream, Milan with his friends, came up with an idea to replace silicon with human hair, an inexpensive conductor.
In doing this solar production would be cheaper. Replacing the worn used hair with new hair when needed is also said to be easy and could be done by anyone, making maintenance cheaper as well. The question is, does it really work? Yes.
Milan has managed to charge a mobile phone as well as run a pack of batteries that can provide light all evening. His hairy solar panel produces 9 V of energy and costs about $38 to make. On a grand scale or even a small scale what does this mean for the rest of the world? Obviously if Milan succeeds and his invention is successful and mass-produced the world will have an inexpensive solar powered option that it currently does not have. The poorest parts of the world could have access to electricity and the rest of the world could inexpensively convert to solar power.
It's an amazing idea and hopefully one that succeeds. For more ways to recycle human hair click for: hairy fashion and hairy oil cleaning mats. Also read about a woman who used human hair to mix in her plaster mix for her home here.
via Daily Mail
Gloria Campos-Hensley
Green Blogger
InventorSpot.com
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Hoax
Submitted on September 9th, 2009 by Anonymousyou know this is a hoax, right?
Impossible - and the worst part is
Submitted on September 9th, 2009 by AnonymousThe worst part is that hundreds of "news sites" are reporting about this.
I'm no expert, but I can Google with the best of 'em:
In 1998 tests were conducted (heh) to see if hair was conductive:
http://www.rafischer.com/hairtest.htm
Hair fails miserably as a conductor, giving the same conductivity results as an open circuit. It stands to reason that if it won't carry electricity, it certainly won't convert sunlight into electricity.
agreed - bogus article
Submitted on September 10th, 2009 by AnonymousSolar panels may have an initial high cost, but they are not expensive to maintain. They are extremely durable and very simple to care for (once installed).
Silicon is a semiconductor, not really a simple conductor. I doubt hair is a semiconductor or much of a conductor.
On the other hand, concrete mixes do have considerably more strength when mixed with a fiber of any kind. Maybe you could add human hair to concrete for some high strength application. (Although human hair is probably more expensive to acquire than other similar performing fibers.)
milan karki wants to be a millionaire
Submitted on September 10th, 2009 by Anonymoushe's lying..turn up the juice !!!!
Hoax!
Submitted on September 10th, 2009 by AnonymousWhy doesn't the general public have any sense anymore?
A good article here..
http://sites.google.com/site/edwardcraighyatt/hairsolarpanelnepal
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