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Honors for Social Awareness

Rainbow to radiance: the fusion of colors into solar power

This photo depicts three different colored beams of light combining to create a dazzling effect. The beams form into white light when mixed, making it seem like a normal flashlight is on. The golf tee blocks out one of the three colors, causing a blend of the other colors. For example, behind the tee on the left, the blue is blocked out, resulting in yellow, the union of green and red. The slit behind acts similarly to the tee, blocking out the combinations of light and letting through the three original colors, where they show up as individual strips. This part of optics is known as color addition theory and explains the combination of these different colors of light.

The second part of the photo is the solar panel on which the three strips are displayed. Each color beam has its own wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum. Since these are in the visible light sector, they range from (380-700 nm). Most are familiar with “white” light going through a refracting prism, but another way to think about light is a rainbow of photons of different wavelengths (colors) merging to form the white light. This image shows how solar panels can harness these multiple parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Scientists are looking at many new ways, for instance perovskites, to increase both the range of wavelengths of light absorbed and the efficiency.

This photograph portrays the wonders of color addition in optical physics and a brief insight into solar panels.