Scientists have been hard at work on the question of solar glass that can generate energy from a clear window. Now a new type of clear solar cell is poised to supply energy through everything from windows to smartphone screens, Interesting Engineering reports.
The new method, Seamless Modularization Technology, was developed by a research team affiliated with UNIST and led by Professor Kwanyong Seo. It involves an "all-back-contact" design that places all the solar cell components at the back, leaving the glass clear and unobstructed.
The result was a module about two and a half square inches in size. The modules can be connected without using opaque wires, a weakness of earlier designs that created interruptions in the clear glass. The module has a high efficiency, listed at 14.7%, making it suitable for everyday use.
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"This study fundamentally solved the aesthetic problem of the existing solar cell modularization method through the design of the new device structure," said team members Jeonghwan Park and Professor Kangmin Lee, per Interesting Engineering. "It presented the possibility that transparent silicon solar cells can be used in various industries such as small devices as well as buildings and automobile glass."
To demonstrate that, the team successfully used the new design to power a mobile phone, showing that one day, we might walk around with smart devices that charge just by being left in the sun.
Not only would that be incredibly convenient and save people money on charging devices, but it also has broader implications. If clean energy-generating solar panels can be built into every clear glass surface, houses, cars, and huge buildings could get some or all of their energy needs met by the sun. That could permanently lower electric bills across the planet, while also reducing the demand for dirty energy sources.
"We plan to continue further research so that transparent solar cells can become a key technology in the eco-friendly future energy industry," added Seo, per Interesting Engineering.
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