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Recently, Ubiquitous Energy, a startup from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has improved the technology of fully transparent solar concentrators and is now closer to market application
.
In August last year, researchers at Michigan State University invented a fully transparent solar concentrator that can turn any window or piece of glass (such as a smartphone screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell
.
From a scientific point of
view, transparent solar panels are actually self-contradictory.
Photovoltaic solar cells produce energy by absorbing photons (sunlight), which is then converted into electrons (electricity).
But if the material is transparent, the light passes directly through the medium, making it unable to absorb photons
.
To circumvent this limitation, the researchers used a slightly different way of collecting sunlight
.
Instead of trying to make a single transparent photovoltaic cell, which is almost impossible to do, they used a fully transparent solar concentrator (TLSC).
TLSC contains organic salts that absorb invisible UV and infrared rays of specific wavelengths
.
They then turn into another wavelength of infrared light (again invisible light) and are directed to the edge
of the plastic.
Here, slender traditional photovoltaic solar cells convert them into electricity
.
If you look closely, you'll see black bars
around the panel in the picture.
Currently, the fully transparent solar concentrator prototype has only about 1% energy efficiency, but the researchers believe they should be able to increase it to 10%
by the time it is put into production.
In comparison, traditional opaque light-emitting concentrators are up to 7%.
It's not a big number, but if it is used on a large scale — in every home or office building — it can add up
.
While it may not give your smartphone or tablet unlimited battery life, replacing your device's display with TLSC should extend usage from a few minutes to a few hours
.
Recently, Ubiquitous Energy, a startup from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has improved the technology of fully transparent solar concentrators and is now closer to market application
.
In August last year, researchers at Michigan State University invented a fully transparent solar concentrator that can turn any window or piece of glass (such as a smartphone screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell
.
From a scientific point of
view, transparent solar panels are actually self-contradictory.
Photovoltaic solar cells produce energy by absorbing photons (sunlight), which is then converted into electrons (electricity).
But if the material is transparent, the light passes directly through the medium, making it unable to absorb photons
.
To circumvent this limitation, the researchers used a slightly different way of collecting sunlight
.
Instead of trying to make a single transparent photovoltaic cell, which is almost impossible to do, they used a fully transparent solar concentrator (TLSC).
TLSC contains organic salts that absorb invisible UV and infrared rays of specific wavelengths
.
They then turn into another wavelength of infrared light (again invisible light) and are directed to the edge
of the plastic.
Here, slender traditional photovoltaic solar cells convert them into electricity
.
If you look closely, you'll see black bars
around the panel in the picture.
Currently, the fully transparent solar concentrator prototype has only about 1% energy efficiency, but the researchers believe they should be able to increase it to 10%
by the time it is put into production.
In comparison, traditional opaque light-emitting concentrators are up to 7%.
It's not a big number, but if it is used on a large scale — in every home or office building — it can add up
.
While it may not give your smartphone or tablet unlimited battery life, replacing your device's display with TLSC should extend usage from a few minutes to a few hours
.
