Human beings grow hair in all sorts of places (the eyeballs, feet and palms excluded), but the stuff sprouting from our chins and heads is what accumulates at the most notable rate. It is for that very reason that we sit ourselves down in a salon chair and entrust someone with precise scissoring skills to carve our errant locks into a respectable style. If you think for a moment how much excess hair tumbles to the floor of the millions of hair cutting palaces around the world, it is astounding that we've developed just a few notable programs (such as Matter Of Trust's oil absorbing mats and Locks Of Love) to make the most of this valuable resource. While hair may be dead, it can take on new life via the magical power of recycling, whether used as household insulation or in the case of Nepalese science student Milan Karki, as a conductive material in an affordable solar panel.
After reading about Stephen Hawking's ideas on creating static energy from hair and recognizing that melanin is an intregal part of the energy conversion process, the 18 year old was inspired to move forward on his dream of creating a 9 V (18 W) solar panel that could effectively liberate his fellow villagers (and potentially the world) from old energy and fast track them on a pathway of greener technologies. Bear in mind that Karki grew up in a world where electricity was not only unavailable, but largely considered a pipedream. Even today in his village, people are accustomed to purchasing a pack of batteries in order to obtain a few precious hours of light a few days in a row before the power runs dry. What initially began as a class experiment for Karki and his classmates soon developed into a viable solution with commercial appeal after realizing that a single solar panel constructed from $38 USD/23 GBP of readily available materials yielded the answer, thanks to the cheap conductive properties of hair.
Traditional solar panels are made with silicon which tends to make them cost prohibitive, particularly in developing countries. And yet, hair? It's considered a waste material in America and perhaps one of the more affordable items in Nepal at a minor cost of about 25 cents for 1 3/4 ounces. By integrating it into simple 15 inch solar panels, Karki was able to successfully generate electricity, a revolutionary discovery which could pave the way for a mass produced version at half the cost. This inspiring accomplishment demonstrates the power of dreams, determination, and how all of us have the power to make our world a better place. I take my hat off to Karki and applaud him for reminding us that the very best ideas are oftentimes so outrageously off-kilter that they just may blow our high technology concepts out of the water. Hair. Who would have thunk it?
Surinder Saini
said on September 10, 2009