This is a Crooke's Solar radiometer. This is different and less complicated from Solar Panels that work by converting sunlight into electricity using photovoltaic (PV) cells. When sunlight hits these cells, it excites electrons, creating an electric current that can be used to power homes and devices. The solar radiometer has a white side and black side. It runs on light, solar or inside your home. You can make it run by putting a lightbulb next to it. As well as a candle. Any light. If a giant radiometer was running, could it produce enough energy to power a home?
Crookes Wiki
Crookes Wiki
The radiometer is made from a glass bulb from which much of the air has been removed to form a partial vacuum. Inside the bulb, on a low-friction spindle, is a rotor with several (usually four) vertical lightweight vanes spaced equally around the axis. The vanes are polished or white on one side and black on the other. When exposed to sunlight, artificial light, or infrared radiation (even the heat of a hand nearby can be enough), the vanes turn with no apparent motive power, the dark sides retreating from the radiation source and the light sides advancing. Cooling the outside of the radiometer rapidly causes rotation in the opposite direction.
The masonic checkerboard. Solar radiometer or something else?
