A Nepali teenager has designed a ￡23 solar panel using human hair.

    Milan Karki, who is 18 years old and lives in a village in rural Nepal, used human hair to replace silicon, which is a common but expensive component of solar panels.

    By using hair as a replacement, Karki says that solar panels can be produced for around ￡23, a price tag that could be halved if they were mass-produced.

    The solar panel works because melanin, the pigment that gives hair its colour, is light sensitive and can act as an electrical conductor. Karki was inspired to follow this route by a Stephen Hawking book, which explained how to create static energy from hair.

    The device that Karki has demonstrated is capable of producing 9V or 18W of energy – plenty to charge a mobile phone.

    "Half a kilo of hair can be bought for only 16p in Nepal and lasts a few months, whereas a pack of batteries would cost 50p and last a few nights," according to The Daily Mail.

    The solar panel is claimed to be easy to service as the hair is easy to replace.

    Karki has now sent out several devices to other districts near his home for testing. He said: "First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world."

    一尼泊尔少年设计出一款用人类头发做成的价值为23英镑的太阳能电池板。

    米兰。卡尅，这个生活在尼泊尔偏远村庄的18岁少年，用人类头发替代硅片，这是一种普遍但却昂贵的太阳能电池板材料。

    卡尅说用头发作为替代品，太阳能电池板的生产价格可以保持在23英镑左右；如果能够大批量生产，则其价格可以减半。

    这种太阳能电池板的工作动力是源于黑色素，这种色素可以通过给头发增色而使其更加敏感，使其起到像点导线一样的作用。卡尅的这种做法的灵感是来源于史蒂芬。哈肯的书，这本书介绍了如何从头发中创造稳定的能量。

    在卡尅的这种装置的说明中，可以了解到其可以产生能够支持一部手机的9伏或者18瓦的电源。

    根据《每日邮报》报道，在尼泊尔只需花费16便士便可以买到0.5千克的头发，可以持续用上数月；而买一包电池则须花费50便士，同样持续数月。

    卡尅现在已经寄出数台这种装置到其家乡的附近地区进行试验。他说："一开始我只是想让我们家，我们村可以用上电。而现在我在想让全世界都可以用上电。"