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You can capture photons from the black body spectrum. You can't extract much energy, but you could get some.
by mercuryrising 14y ago
You can capture photons from the black body spectrum. You can't extract much energy, but you could get some.
- Retric 14y agoSure you 'capture' a few, but if everything is the same temperature your losing just as photons back up. It's a lot like the tiny paddlewheel attached to a ratchet Richard Feynman analyzed, you end up with an even dice roll 4/5 times you win but that 1/5 makes up for all those gains. PS: Don't forget solar cells work because the sun is hot, and there is plenty of black body radiation to go around.
- ars 14y agoNo, not unless the device is colder than whatever is shining on it. To make electricity the captured photons have to fall to a lower state - but if the solar cell is the same temperature the photons can't do that.