Convert Solar Energy into Electricity Using Fluorescent Bulbs.

[ResinRat2]

Many forms of energy can convert back and forth. A good example that comes to mind is a normal speaker. If sound is put into it a small voltage can be produced.

This thought came to me and the idea of using a fluorescent bulb in reverse popped into my mind.. What if a fluorescent bulb is allowed to absorb sunlight? Will a voltage be produced as the gas absorbs energy from sunlight.?

I have been trying over the last week to catch some sunlight with a fluorescent bulb and see if I can get a voltage. Even a small one to show some promise. No luck. This week has been cloudy and dreary whenever I am off of work, but during work I have sunlight and nice days or I am too  busy with errands and other responsibilities. Today I grabbed one of the fluorescent bulbs that I have at home that is meant to replace a 60 watt incandescent bulb and in my frustration I pressed the probes for the voltmeter on the plus and minus connections and held the bulb up to a 60 watt incandescent bulb I have hanging in our bathroom. To my surprise a voltage began to show where no voltage showed before. Was it heat energy or light energy I am not sure. It climbed to 0.24 volts and then started to rock up and down.

So here is my idea. See if I can use fluorescent lighting to build an experimental solar cell that sits outside and produces voltage. I don't know if the bulbs need to be hooked together in series or parallel or even if there is anything to look at here; but a series of fluorescent bulbs would be cheaper than solar cells across my roof.

Just throwing it out there for others to try or maybe give me ideas on how to test this. Thanks for your interest.

[orbs]

FL, CFL or (new) CCFL? Brand? It doesn't seem to make sense with either, though.

[ResinRat2]

Here is the picture of the bulb.

Feit Electric Brand

30W 120VAC 60Hz 500mA
UL #  E170906

I held it sideways very close to the surface of the incandescent 60 watt bulb and it took several seconds (15-20 seconds) before a voltage formed. I repeated this experiment 5 times already. It keeps giving me around 0.25 volts.

I must be doing something wrong because I really have doubts it should be doing this.

[fritznien]

 there are eletronics in the base of the bulb, it seem very unlikely you would see any voltage from the tube this way. a better way would be to use one of the old style tubes. also a good meter would be over 20 meg impedance so the current and power you are looking at is as close to zero as not to matter.

[ResinRat2]

Thanks Fritznein,

That's why I threw it out for opinions, I was fishing for information to see if this had any potential.

Thanks for your help. I would say this one is a dead end.