Windows that change color to produce more electricity. Transparent photovoltaics are now a reality but a new study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the US Department of Energy has devised a system to make "solar" windows even more efficient
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Windows that change color to produce more electricity. Transparent photovoltaics are now a reality but a new study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the US Department of Energy has devised a system to make “solar” windows even more efficient.
In fact, they change color in response to light: they darken as the sun's rays hit them, absorbing more light and producing more electricity. At the same time, when the sunlight fades, they become transparent again.
Relying on advanced materials such as perovskiti and single-walled carbon nanotubes, the new technology thus responds to light by transforming itself from transparent to colored. It is precisely when the window darkens that it generates electricity. The color change is driven by molecules (methylamine) which are reversibly absorbed into the device. When solar energy heats up, the molecules are expelled and the device darkens. When the sun is absent, the device cools and the molecules "reabsorb" in the window, which at that point appears transparent.
The frequency of light in the visible part of the solar spectrum can be seen in a transparent or bleached state. During testing, the color change of the illuminated by the light took about 3 minutes and the efficiency was 11,3%.
Most of the technologies based on the PV transparent they are static. This means that they are designed to produce clean energy but without sacrificing too much the passage of light.
“There is a fundamental trade-off for a good solar cell. This technology bypasses it. We have a good solar cell when there is a lot of sun and we have a good window when there is none " explains Lance Wheeler, NREL scientist.
The path to commercialization of this device was initiated last year thanks to a two-month program called Energy I-Corps.
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According to Wheeler, the technology could be integrated into vehicles, buildings and homes. The electricity generated by the window through the solar cell could also be used for smartphone chargers and many other electronic devices.
The study was published in Nature.
Francesca Mancuso
