@AzulCrescent There's also a fun thing where LEDs and solar panels are fundamentally the same object, so you can use an LED as a (really crappy) solar panel, and you can use a solar panel as an LED (once)!
@thepi LMAO at the once ahahha
@thepi @AzulCrescent you actually can use solar panels as LEDs for a longer period of time if you drive them sanely, they just output in infrared instead of the visible spectrum.
yes this means you can (well, could, theoretically) make a tv/aircon remote out of one
@robot @thepi @AzulCrescent
In northern climes, it means you can melt the snow from your panels.
@Julleee @AzulCrescent @thepi How long until we see Bad Apple on one of the large solar farms :)
@eragon @AzulCrescent I can't believe there's a practical use for that. That's awesome!
@thepi @AzulCrescent that's actually my favorite bit of trivia about solar panels :)
@thepi
If you are a bit more gentle, you can run a bit of current through a solar panel and look at it with an IR camera. If parts of it dont light up, there is a fracture in the crystal and that part won't generate power either.
@AzulCrescent