A team of researchers from Michigan State University has developed fully transparent solar panels, a breakthrough that could lead to countless applications in architecture, mobile electronics or the automotive industry.
Previous attempts to create such a device have been made, but results were never satisfactory, with low efficiency and poor material quality.
The research team focused developing a transparent luminescent solar concentrator that can be placed over a window or any other clear surface. The concentrator can harvest solar energy without affecting light transmittance.
The technology uses organic molecules, which absorb wavelengths of light that are invisible to the human eye, like infrared and ultraviolet light.
Richard Lunt, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at MSU’s College of Engineering, said: "We can tune these materials to pick up just the ultraviolet and the near infrared wavelengths that then 'glow' at another wavelength in the infrared."
The captured light is transported to the contour of the panel, where it is converted to electricity with the help of thin strips of photovoltaic solar cells.
