Written by John Vibes at trueactivist.com
A new transparent solar cell that could be used as a window was recently developed by researchers at Michigan State University.
This is a feat that was once thought to be impossible, because traditional solar panels absorb light and turn it into energy, but a transparent surface is not typically able to absorb light.
To make a transparent solar cell, researchers opted for a different system called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC), which contains organic salts that absorb specific non-visible wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light. This light is then guided towards traditional photovoltaic solar cells which are able to trap the energy and convert it into electricity.
Not only can this material be used for windows, but it can also be used for displays on electronic devices, giving them another source of power and potentially extending their energy life significantly.
Awesome! Really want this kind of stuff around now
Most of the UV light has been absorbed by the atmosphere by the time it reaches ground level. Infrared light caries way less energy than visible light or UV. So even if, and that’s a big if, you can get the efficiency at a decent percentage, it still won’t produce much energy. Not to mention you still need traditional photovoltaic cells. All in all a costly whole with little gain. Hopefully they can improvethis drastically over the next few years, but I wouldn’t put my money on it.
There is always alternative things behind that. If you would see how it looks like when you will cut the galss. You would see that the glass can concentrate the light in the rear sides like magnifying glass. In that case we have very concentrated light, infrared, UV. So from that point as i see its would very powerfull source to produce power on your own. The glass some how must be made in pirimydes forms to brake the light and redirect the light to cells which generates energy. Also im thinking about optical transmision of powered energy.
That’s exactly what I was just thinking. Also, what if the light was redirected and bounced between mirrors. Could the sound vibrations produce energy?
Interesting how well the points of view are perfectly named. “Yeahright” and “whynot.”
Saw something like this YEARS ago, but never heard anything more.
I’m guessing because they probably don’t supply enough energy to be viable.
Yes this would be great but can you see how the mega power corporations would fight this tooth and nail. Look at the laws, (US) that don’t allow people to disconnect from the grid in most states. If this was to be viable they would have to start in another country and prove its worth, say Canada, before it would even remotely come close to being an alternative in the States. And even then it would most likely be delayed and shelved before implementation. Look at Monsanto.Products banned in most European countries because its killing bees but perfectly fine to use in the states. The US government is too corrupt and only have eyes for the lobbyists and their money to do anything that would be beneficial unless they can line their own pockets doing it.
Yeah, uh… ‘redirects’ the light to PV receptors… In the frame of whatever the glass is mounted in…
So, well, that’s gonna reduce the surface area to “LOL, Really?” inefficiency range, so don’t expect your plate glass window to do much beyond run an LED bulb or two…