Solar panels as cosmic-ray detectors

TL;DR

This paper proposes using solar panels as large-area, low-cost detectors for extreme energy cosmic rays, enabling simultaneous power generation and cosmic-ray detection to explore high-energy physics beyond current accelerators.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of utilizing solar panels as Cherenkov light detectors for cosmic rays, combining energy harvesting with particle detection.

Findings

Solar panels can detect Cherenkov light from cosmic rays.

This method allows large-area, cost-effective cosmic-ray detection.

Potential for dual use in power generation and astrophysics research.

Abstract

Due to fundamental limitations of accelerators, only cosmic rays can give access to centre-of- mass energies more than one order of magnitude above those reached at the LHC. In fact, extreme energy cosmic rays (1018 eV - 1020 eV) are the only possibility to explore the 100 TeV energy scale in the years to come. This leap by one order of magnitude gives a unique way to open new horizons: new families of particles, new physics scales, in-depth investigations of the Lorentz symmetries. However, the flux of cosmic rays decreases rapidly, being less than one particle per square kilometer per year above 1019 eV: one needs to sample large surfaces. A way to develop large-effective area, low cost, detectors, is to build a solar panel-based device which can be used in parallel for power generation and Cherenkov light detection. Using solar panels for Cherenkov light detection would combine power generation and a non-standard detection device.