- 8.1% efficiency
- 43.3% transparency
The cells are similar to the grey tint of car windows or sunglasses, but instead, have a slightly green appearance to them. Previous transparent solar cells have only had a 2 – 3% efficiency, so this is a promising technology. (2) To put this into perspective, regular nontransparent solar cells have an efficiency between 15-20% (4). While transparent solar may not stack up when compared to standard solar technology, it’s improving.
“Windows, which are on the face of every building, are an ideal location for organic solar cells because they offer something silicon can’t, which is a combination of very high efficiency and very high visible transparency,” Engineering professor Stephen Forrest explained. (2)
The idea is essentially to use the coating that most building windows already have to help reduce brightness and heat inside the building to instead create energy. (2)
The Drive For Completely Clear Panels Continues
An advanced materials company UbiQD in New Mexico is currently working on transparent solar panels that look just like regular, clear glass. They are achieving this using a technology called quantum dots: Microscopic nanoparticles that manipulate light. (2) This is the same technology used in some of the newer smart TVs.
Quantum dots (nanoparticles) are so tiny that it would take 100,000 of them to cover even just your fingernail. They have extremely high efficiency and size-tunable photoluminescence, aka light emission, in several colors. (2)
Though the efficiency of these panels is only 3.6%, it is promising for the future. (3) UbiQD has already partnered with quantum dot manufacturer Nanosys to create panels for greenhouses that help plants get more from the sun. (3)
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