A SOLAR PANEL ON EVERY WINDOW

At last it was developed a kind of transparent material that can be used as a solar panel. This kind of solar receiver can be applied in windows and due to its transparent nature, allows the capture of light and its transformation into energy, while maintaining the transparency of the window.

The study and development of this type of material, called “Transparent Luminescent Solar Concentrator (TLSC)”, is not new, but only now managed to render a material to ensure the “transparency” so you want to be able to be applied in windows, because Richard Lunt, of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Michigan says: “nobody wants to sit next to a coulored glass”, which causes discomfort, and tiring and heavy environments to relax or work.



This solar device uses small organic molecules to absorb wavelengths not visible, specific to the sunlight. The materials used in the manufacture of this device can be adjusted to capture only the ultraviolet waves and other infrared waves which have wavelengths close. Thus, the “mirror” of infrared light is guided to the end of the plastic, where it is converted into electricity by thin strips of photovoltaic solar cells. As the materials do not absorb or emit light in the visible spectrum, they look exceptionally transparent to the human eye, explains Professor Lunt.

The analysis of this solution, comprise the high expectations that this product demonstrates, because due to its great versatility, the field of application extends the application in facades of buildings up to the screens of computers, mobile phones and other “gadgets”, thus allowing these to create their own photovoltaic energy.

At this point, the team of Professor Lunt is solving the problem of efficiency, because currently the TLSC has a rate of energy conversion efficiency on the order of 1%, but the Michigan team wants to get the rates in excess of 5%. These values, which may be considered low, have as a counterpart the fact that the product can be applied in vast areas, thus compensating such a low efficiency value.

Links: 
http://www.techtudo.com.br/noticias/noticia/2014/08/novo-tipo-de-painel-solar-transparente-podera-ser-usado-em-janelas.html
http://www.portalsolar.com.br/blog-solar/curiosidades-sobre-energia-solar/celula-solar-transparente-e-inventada-nos-estados-unidos.html
http://www.portal-energia.com/painel-solar-transparente-promete-revolucionar-aplicacoes-em-energia-solar/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HWxT_XdkEw