Scientists have made a massive breakthrough in their efforts to create flexible solar panels, and it could change what our cities look like, what we wear, and even what we drive.
According to a study led by researchers from the University of Hong Kong, scientists have been studying organic photovoltaic materials, or OPVs, to find the most efficient ways of structuring them to convert sunlight into power.
OPVs have incredible potential in the solar energy game — they are lightweight, flexible, affordable, and nontoxic, according to a university report posted at Tech Xplore. This means they could be used anywhere from buildings to clothes to cars.
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A key drawback is their efficiency; most OPVs are not as efficient as most traditional solar materials. However, some OPV efficiencies have improved in recent years to convert 20% of the sun's energy into electricity, according to the university report.
The study adds further hope that OPVs can be widely used in the future with Y-type acceptors. In OPVs, sunlight generates excitons, and in Y-type acceptors, they move from less organized spaces to more organized spaces, generating electricity in the process, per the report.
By tracking the movement of those excitons, the researchers were able to figure out the ideal configuration for the acceptors to help maximize efficiency.
They found that OPV materials with neatly packed molecules enable the excitons to move through the space more quickly and efficiently than they would otherwise have been able to. They also found that there was an ideal amount of packing to be done. If the molecules are too tightly packed, or too loosely packed, the Y-type acceptors perform less efficiently.
Solar energy is the fastest-growing form of energy on the planet. Scientists have made incredible advances in improving solar panels' efficiency, reducing their cost, and even finding ways to grow crops around them.
While this particular research doesn't have a direct impact as of yet, the benefit of OPVs could be immense. We could see wearable solar panels that generate energy to charge phones or other devices, panels on cars to keep their batteries charged, and the use of panels to enhance the appearance of buildings while also providing those buildings with power.
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