Producing clean energy through glass and windows. Transparent photovoltaics is nothing new, but a new study by scientists at Michigan State University has shown that a particular type of photovoltaic cells could meet almost half of the US electricity demand and drastically reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Producing clean energy through glass and windows. The transparent photovoltaic This is nothing new, but a new study conducted by scientists at Michigan State University has shown that a particular type of photovoltaic cells could meet almost half of the US electricity demand and drastically reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
"Highly transparent solar cells represent the future of new solar applications", said Richard Lunt, MSU Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “We analyzed their potential and showed that by collecting only invisible light, these devices can have energy generation potential comparable to that of classic rooftop photovoltaics, while offering additional features to improve the efficiency of buildings, cars and systems. 'mobile electronics ".
Lunt and colleagues promoted the development of a transparent solar concentrator which, when placed on a window, produces electricity without affecting the view. The thin and plastic material can be used on building, windows, phones Cell or other devices with a transparent or clear surface.
In fact, the system collects sunlight using organic molecules, developed by Lunt and his team, to absorb even the lengths d'onda invisible. Researchers can then "tune" these materials to collect only ultraviolet and near-infrared wavelengths, and then convert this energy into electricity.
They strongly believe in solar. In their opinion, in fact, moving global energy consumption away from fossil fuels will pass precisely through these innovative and economic technologies as well as ecological. Currently, only 1,5 percent of US and global electricity demand is supplied by the PV but in terms of overall potential, the authors note that there are 5 to 7 billion square feet of glass surfaces in the United States alone. It would be enough to replace them with transparent photovoltaics to cover about 40 percent of the demand, like photovoltaics on the roof.
“Using both technologies could get us close to 100 percent of our demand if energy storage is also improved,” explains Lunt.
The latter also revealed that highly transparent photovoltaic applications are registering efficiencies above 5%, while traditional panels stand at 15-18% Despite the gap, the former have the potential to offer large amounts of energy as they can be applied to larger surfaces.
READ also:
- COLORED PHOTOVOLTAIC GLASS TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY
- COLORED PHOTOVOLTAIC GLASS TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY
- PHOTOVOLTAIC: THE SEMI-TRANSPARENT WINDOWS THAT PRODUCE ENERGY
Technologies already exist. The point is to believe in them and invest in using them, as an alternative to polluting fossil sources.
The research was published on Nature Energy.
Francesca Mancuso
