Neutrinovoltaics: small decentralised power suppliers for the big energy transition

Stable energy supply: international researchers and companies are focusing on operating and control methods for neutrinovoltaics.

The transformation towards a sustainable, efficient and low-cost energy supply is one of the central challenges of the 21st century.

Local grids or even small, completely self-sufficient units – so-called neutrinovoltaic systems – offer great potential. In decentralised and cellular energy systems, the balance between energy supply and demand is already established at local level.

The advantages of generating energy with invisible radiation

One of the main problems with regard to the sustainability of our energy supply is that primary energy is still largely based on fossil fuels. Renewables account for less than 15 per cent of this energy mix, which can make a rapid fundamental change of direction quite complicated. The effects of such a ratio can be seen in climate change, which in the long term leads to the warming of the entire planet. In Germany, coal-fired power stations are not due to be shut down until 2038, and on closer inspection the promotion of electromobility is not an effective way of reducing pollutant emissions either: even if the electric car itself no longer emits pollutants, the chimneys of the big power stations smoke all the more to provide this additional energy as well.

The amount of energy needed for a transport transition would be so high that the electricity would in turn still have to be generated mainly from fossil fuels, which would even increase the burden on the environment. So nothing changes in the overall balance – only the place where the emissions occur.

Small grids or completely autonomous systems, big impact

Neutrinovoltaic systems are an important part of the solution for the energy transition in the near future; they will considerably support other sustainable energy sources. Small local grids or completely autonomous systems can supply households and industrial companies with energy both connected to the grid and autonomously in island operation.

Neutrinovoltaic systems have the advantage that, by integrating them locally, energy is provided close to where it is consumed and can thus always be used directly by the consumer over short distances. This can considerably relieve supraregional energy grids, and the need for further grid expansion gradually decreases. In addition, the share of renewable energy increases, since lossy transport over long distances and unnecessary shutdowns of renewable power plants due to grid bottlenecks are avoided.

Holger Thorsten Schubart CEO of the Neutrino Energy Group

Challenges in operating autonomous systems based on renewable energy

However, one central challenge in operating autonomous systems has to be overcome: ensuring a continuous and efficient energy supply. “In previous decentralised grids, a stable energy supply is much more difficult to maintain than in central grids supported by large conventional power stations – owing to the volatility, i.e. fluctuations, of renewable wind and solar plants, which typically have only small storage and reserve capacities,” because the wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. “This changes, however, with neutrinovoltaic technology: these systems work autonomously 24/365, comparable to a solar cell that would also keep working in complete darkness,” explains Prof. Dr R. Strauss, professor of physics and member of the international Scientific Advisory Board of the Neutrino Energy Group.

The Neutrino Energy Group has made it its task to coordinate research into converting invisible radiation energy, to make it usable, and to inform and educate the public about the possibilities of this use. In Germany, Neutrino Deutschland GmbH, based in Berlin, belongs to this globally networked group. One partial goal is to develop prototypes and products for everyday use together with industry: small and large so-called “neutrinovoltaic systems”, “neutrino energy cells” and “Neutrino Power Cubes” (autonomous small neutrino power plants). According to current findings, electricity from these new renewable energy cells will cost far less than a comparable kilowatt hour from today’s grid, because the “raw material, invisible radiation” costs nothing at all, is always available everywhere, and the costs of building and maintaining grids will eventually disappear too. Only the technical device for converting the energy and its maintenance still have to be paid for by the consumer.

A solution for energy supply in emerging and developing countries

Neutrinovoltaics is a core element of the future energy transition, but also a central building block for establishing the basic future energy supply in emerging and developing countries, says Schubart. “Since neutrinovoltaic systems can operate not only connected to the grid but also completely autonomously in island operation, they are an optional solution for remote, off-grid areas. In addition to contributing to the energy transition in industrialised countries, neutrinovoltaics is therefore a central building block for establishing a basic energy supply in emerging and developing countries, where building an extremely expensive centralised energy infrastructure is not on the horizon even in the long term, especially in sparsely populated rural areas,” the CEO emphasises.

The Neutrino® Energy Group works with a worldwide team of scientists and various international research centres. They research applications for converting invisible radiation spectra of the sun, including neutrinos – high-energy particles that reach the Earth incessantly and can be converted into electrical energy.

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