The performance of photovoltaic cells can be improved by Blu-Ray. You read that right. The technology used in DVD video will be at the basis of the improvement in solar yield
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
The performance of Photovoltaic cells may be improved from Blu-Ray. You read that right. The technology used for the videos will be at the basis of the improvement in solar yield.
To find out a research group from Northwestern University. According to scientists, the model by which information on a Blu-ray disc works well and has all the credentials to improve the absorption of light across the solar spectrum. And researchers also know why.
“We got the feeling that the Blu-ray discs they could have worked to improve photovoltaic cells, and to our delight, we found that existing models are fine ", he said Huang Jiaxing, a materials chemist and associate professor of materials science and engineering at McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science., Who participated in the research. "It's as if the electronic engineers and computer scientists who developed Blu-ray technology have unconsciously done our job too."
It doesn't matter if it's Superman, a historical movie or a cartoon. It is not the content that matters but the substance, in this case even more. In collaboration with Cheng Sun, McCormick's associate professor of mechanical engineering, Huang and his team tested a wide range of films and television shows archived on Blu-ray discs, including action films, fiction, documentaries, cartoons and black and white content, and found that the video content did not matter. All of them improved the absorption of light in the solar cells.
That's right. Blue-Ray technology, as we know it, is already capable of enhance the photovoltaic cells because the storage model of the data transferred to the cell increases the absorption of light.
In their study, the researchers first selected the Supercop film. They replicated the model on the active layer of a polymer cell and found that it became more efficient than a control solar cell with a random pattern on its surface.
Why? Blu-ray discs contain a higher data density than DVD or CD. This model, developed over decades for data storage, transferred to the surface of solar cells, helps to improve their light absorption and consequently performance. This improvement has been measured and is equal to 21,8 percent.
“In addition to improving polymer photovoltaic cells, our simulation suggests that the Blu-ray models could be generally applied to light capture in other types of solar cells,” they explain.
A field on which we have been working for some time. The scientific world is in fact trying to increase the efficiency of photovoltaics without increasing costs. So is Blu-Ray the solution?
Francesca Mancuso
READ also:
Photovoltaics: solar cells that reduce costs by 75%
Photovoltaics: make cheaper and more efficient spray solar cells
