Conventional solar cells can be rendered see-through by puncturing them with holes thinner than the width of a human hair. The team behind the breakthrough hopes that the tech could one day be used to build office blocks that are powered by their windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most solar cells sat on top of household roofs are opaque. The darker they are, the better they absorb solar energy. They\u2019re mostly made out of a glass-like material called crystalline silicon, which is stable and efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling the surface area on top of a house with these cells can provide enough energy to power what\u2019s inside, but the same isn\u2019t true of a tower block or skyscraper where the roof is only a small proportion of its surface area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To remedy this problem, researchers at South Korea\u2019s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have been searching for a way to create windows that can harvest the Sun\u2019s energy, as it could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of these energy-hungry buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team discovered that if they punched tiny holes into crystalline silicon cells, in patterns undetectable to the human eye, they could\u00a0render them as transparent as tinted glass while only reducing their efficiency by a small amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Traditional photovoltaic cells achieve 20 per cent efficiency, while these new cells manage 12 per cent \u2013 substantially better than the 3 to 4 per cent achieved by other transparent cells. \u201cAt first thought, it was a crazy idea for all of us,\u201d says Kwanyong Seo, co-senior author on the paper published in the\u00a0Joule\u00a0journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate goal is to scale the technology up and limit the increasing demand that skyscrapers and tower blocks put on the power grid. \u201cWe want to replace windows,\u201d says Seo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many things we have to overcome, such as the regulations by law. We need to have the mechanical stability and strength to replace current windows in buildings.\u201d On top of that, Seo and his colleagues will have to come up with a way to conceal the electrodes through which the harvested electricity will leave the solar cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From: https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/news\/transparent-solar-cells-could-replace-office-windows\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conventional solar cells can be rendered see-through by puncturing them with holes thinner than the width of a human hair. The team behind the breakthrough hopes that the tech could one day be used to build office blocks that are powered by their windows. Most solar cells sat on top of household roofs are opaque.…
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