Generating electricity by making use of the space on your roof has become common in the past ten years. But what if you could use your windows to produce electricity as well? Scientists have been working on technology to make this a possibility for a while.
There are a lot of potential use cases for transparent solar cells. Think of all the glass we use in skyscrapers for example - Image Credit: Viktor Jakovlev via Unsplash - HDR tune by Universal-Sci
Transparent solar cells (or TSC's) are upcoming devices capable of converting light to electricity while being transparent. TSC technology is a big deal, as its potential is enormous. It could be used in large buildings with lots of glass, cars and other vehicles, portable devices, etc. Present TSC's have a lot of limitations and can't actually be used in real-world applications due to their inflexibility and colored tint.
Luckily, as per usual, scientists did not throw in the towel and worked hard on improving this technology. Recently researchers from South Korea and China designed flexible and efficient transparent solar cells that are color neutral. Based on the silicon micro-wires rooted in the transparent polymer matrix, they showed transparent solar cells that can even be stretched when necessary. A very cool thing that can be done with this technology is adjusting the transparency from 10% to 55% by changing the spacing between the micro-wires. The researchers published their findings in the science journal Light Science & applications.
Conventional solar panels - Image Credit: Andreas Gücklhorn via Unsplash - HDR tune by Universal-Sci
Comparing transparent solar cells with normal solar cells obviously uncovers a trade-off when it comes to the amount of electricity that can be produced per square meter of solar panel. However, the researchers asserted that they are working hard to minimize this trade-off as much as possible. They stated that solar cells can essentially only generate electricity from absorbing light. Consequently, attaining a high efficiency while maintaining transparency is very challenging. However, they managed to enhance light absorption by manipulating the path of light with a new absorption mechanism inside microwire arrays.
The newly developed device is based on existing (Si wafer) technology that is already widely used in the solar cell market. This means that the utilization of transparent solar cells in a real-life setting is no longer a pipe-dream and might become a reality in the near future.
Further reading: Stretchable and colorless freestanding microwire arrays for transparent solar cells with flexibility
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