Transparent Solar Panels
By Marina Wang
Transparent Solar Panels
In August 2014, researchers at Michigan State University managed to create a highly transparent solar panels, one of the first of its kind. The solar panels could transform everyday household items, such as windows, into a solar cell able to harness the Sun’s energy. These solar panels could change the way we use energy in the future, when windows and doors and even smartphones could be covered in transparent solar panels, thus ensuring renewable energy is put to use. But how exactly would it work?
You see, these new solar panels absorb only infrared and ultraviolet light, letting visible light pass through so our eyes perceive it as transparent. Since all light is made up of electromagnetic radiation within different wavelengths, they all contain energy. But the human eye can only detect one type of energy, called “visible” because we can see it. The solar panels aim to catch all light energy other than visible, with a 70% transmission efficiency. But the panels have a very low conversion efficiency, or the amount of energy that can actually be used, which is 2%, while standard solar panels have an average conversion efficiency of 15% to 17%, with the highest being 22.5%. The researchers at MIT hope to reach at least a 10% conversion efficiency in the future by simply stacking the solar cells.
The benefits of these solar panels would be very noticeable if used in everyday life. Even the process of making the panels is environmentally friendly and doesn’t use a lot of energy. The coating of the solar panels allows it to be laid down on essentially any surface, from wood tables to glass to even carpeted floors. The cost to make transparent solar panels is also nearly identical to the cost of making standard solar panels. Cities would see a significant rise in renewable energy consumption with the help of transparent solar panels that could cover skyscrapers and other buildings.
I would think that in the future, these solar panels can help cut off our nonrenewable energy consumption by replacing or being added to windows and electronic devices that we use everyday. Over a long period of time, these panels would be nearly everywhere and unnoticed by the human eye, while still benefiting the earth. In summary, the production and distribution of transparent solar panels still has a long way to go, but when mastered, would greatly benefit the environment.
http://energy.mit.edu/news/transparent-solar-cells/
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188667-a-fully-transparent-solar-cell-that-could-make-every-window-and-screen-a-power-source
Transparent Solar Panels
In August 2014, researchers at Michigan State University managed to create a highly transparent solar panels, one of the first of its kind. The solar panels could transform everyday household items, such as windows, into a solar cell able to harness the Sun’s energy. These solar panels could change the way we use energy in the future, when windows and doors and even smartphones could be covered in transparent solar panels, thus ensuring renewable energy is put to use. But how exactly would it work?
You see, these new solar panels absorb only infrared and ultraviolet light, letting visible light pass through so our eyes perceive it as transparent. Since all light is made up of electromagnetic radiation within different wavelengths, they all contain energy. But the human eye can only detect one type of energy, called “visible” because we can see it. The solar panels aim to catch all light energy other than visible, with a 70% transmission efficiency. But the panels have a very low conversion efficiency, or the amount of energy that can actually be used, which is 2%, while standard solar panels have an average conversion efficiency of 15% to 17%, with the highest being 22.5%. The researchers at MIT hope to reach at least a 10% conversion efficiency in the future by simply stacking the solar cells.
The benefits of these solar panels would be very noticeable if used in everyday life. Even the process of making the panels is environmentally friendly and doesn’t use a lot of energy. The coating of the solar panels allows it to be laid down on essentially any surface, from wood tables to glass to even carpeted floors. The cost to make transparent solar panels is also nearly identical to the cost of making standard solar panels. Cities would see a significant rise in renewable energy consumption with the help of transparent solar panels that could cover skyscrapers and other buildings.
I would think that in the future, these solar panels can help cut off our nonrenewable energy consumption by replacing or being added to windows and electronic devices that we use everyday. Over a long period of time, these panels would be nearly everywhere and unnoticed by the human eye, while still benefiting the earth. In summary, the production and distribution of transparent solar panels still has a long way to go, but when mastered, would greatly benefit the environment.
http://energy.mit.edu/news/transparent-solar-cells/
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188667-a-fully-transparent-solar-cell-that-could-make-every-window-and-screen-a-power-source
Comments
Post a Comment