神奇的新科技——用影子發電

It sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, but the newly revealed Shadow-Effect Energy Generator (SEG) is a real prototype device. The fascinating concept could help us to transform the way renewable energy is generated indoors.

這聽起來好像是科幻電影裏的東西，但最近公佈的通過陰影效應發電是真實存在的實物裝置。這個吸引人的概念能幫助我們改變可再生能源在室內產生的方式。

The SEG uses the contrast between darkness and light to produce electricity. It's made up of a series of thin strips of gold film on a silicon wafer, placed on top of a flexible plastic base.

通過陰影效應發電利用明暗對比來發電，它是由硅晶片上的一系列薄金片組成，放置在軟塑料底座上。

Whereas shadows are usually a problem for renewable solar energy production, here they're actually harnessed to keep on generating power. The technology - which is cheaper to produce than a typical solar cell, according to its developers - produces small amounts of power and could be used in mobile gadgets, for example.

儘管陰影通常會給可再生太陽能生產造成問題，但在這兒它們實際上被用來持續發電。據其開發人員介紹，這種技術比一般的太陽能電池生產成本更低，產生的功率很小，可用於移動設備等。

"Shadows are omnipresent, and we often take them for granted," says materials scientist Tan Swee Ching, from the National University of Singapore (NUS). "In conventional photovoltaic or optoelectronic applications where a steady source of light is used to power devices, the presence of shadows is undesirable, since it degrades the performance of devices.

新加坡國立大學材料科學家Tan Swee Ching說：“陰影無處不在，我們經常以爲它的存在是理所當然的。在傳統的光電應用中，穩定光源被用來給設備供電，人們不喜歡影子的存在，因爲它降低了設備的性能。”

"In this work, we capitalised on the illumination contrast caused by shadows as an indirect source of power. The contrast in illumination induces a voltage difference between the shadow and illuminated sections, resulting in an electric current. This novel concept of harvesting energy in the presence of shadows is unprecedented."

“在這項工作中，我們利用了影子產生的明暗對比，把它當做間接能源。明暗對比使陰影部分和被照亮部分之間有電壓差，產生電流。這種在陰影中獲取能量的新概念前所未有。”