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Clear Solar Cells Could Help Windows Generate Power
ckwu writes "The vast real estate of windows in office buildings and skyscrapers could be a fruitful field for harvesting solar energy—if lightweight solar cells could be made with a high enough conversion efficiency and appealing aesthetics. Now researchers at Oxford University report semitransparent solar cells that might do the trick. The team made solar cells using a perovskite, a class of mineral-like materials that have properties similar to inorganic semiconductors and show sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies of more than 15%. The team deposited a thin film of perovskite onto glass so that the material formed tiny crystalline islands. The islands absorb photons and convert them to electrons, while light striking the empty areas passes through. The result was a semitransparent solar cell with a grayish tint."
The challenges for mass-adoption of solar cells having nothing to do with convenient locations to put them. Nearly all home-owners have a roof that they can access.
The challenges for solar cell adoption are:
Cost-effective manufacturing methods
The market price of silicon
Efficiency of conversion
Storing the energy for when it's required (or moving it to where it is helpful)
and Durability
When those problems are REALLY solved, we won't need to have dark windows to generate our energy needs. And we won't need to burn coal. But we're a long way from solving all of those problems.
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
Will they be available as a service pack for XP ?
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashdot.org Errors found while checking this document as HTML5!
It seems that no headline or story is written anymore without these weasel words that render the subject matter impotent.
Semi transparent cells could, but don't/won't.
Semi transparent cells might, or might not and probably won't.
Semi transparent cells may, but doesn't.
How about we get some tech that actually does shit. Why can't the next headline read; not so spectacular evolutionary tech does get the job done and improves performance ~5%. It will cost more and then later cost less.
Seriously, unless you can make these absorb energy only in wavelengths we actually don't want in the house, it seems like all we'd be doing is generating electricity, which we'd then burn trying to substitute the light we filtered out. If these capture either IR, or visible light (and they deffinately capture visible light), then we're just going to end up turning on more light bulbs, and heaters to compensate for them.
When has aesthetics ever played a role in how the glass and steel monstrosities were erected? If the owner thought they could make some extra money, they'll be tacked on, no matter how ugly.
Hmmm.. When did I get so cynical?
I'm all for solar windows on buildings. It doesn't bring in that much energy per unit area, but on a large, multi-story building, the energy obtained can be substantial.
This is useful for both on-grid use (to help lower power bills), as well as off-grid use (power to be stored in batteries and used with PSW inverters for very clean power in the structure.)
Stuff like this isn't revolutionary, but with energy use, any step helps.
They already have these in Japan, made ironically by an American (good old USofA) company.
The islands absorb photons and convert them to electrons
Really?
Clear Solar Cells Could Help Windows Generate Power
Clear Windows Could Help Solar Cells Generate Power
Windows Could Help Solar Cells Generate Clear Power
Clear Power Could Help Windows Generate Solar Cells
If I had grey windows, I'd get less heat from open blinds in the Winter. I'd have to burn more gas.
That said, tinted windows on office building are already the norm so it could work in that setting. It all comes down to cost. Also, what kind of innovative code compliance will you need for wiring from every window?
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I think you need to check your definition of pseudo-science.
And RTFS: "...vast real estate of windows in office buildings and skyscrapers...efficiencies of more than 15%"
Speaking of pesky laws of physics, o hater of all things right and good...
According to Wikipedia, only about 44% of the sun's electromagnetic radiation that reaches the ground is in the visible light range.. Photovoltaics are typically responsive to limited wavelength ranges. It would make perfect sense to tune semi-transparent photovoltaics to absorb radiation that falls outside the visible spectrum, while transmitting most of the visible light.
You get all the benefits of Low-E glass, plus electricity.
From the makers of submarine screen doors
A 15% efficient cell mounted in a vertical position probably produces less per area than a 10% efficient cell mounted in an optimal position. And since 15% seems to be "optimistic", its just hard to see unless the price is way less than anything we've seen to date.
Windows will never generate power, it will always consume power and much more so than a sane OS.
CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
These are great for homeowners with HOAs that would consider rooftop panels an eye sore and not allow them. The amount of electricity a typical single family home would produce from these probably isn't impressive, but on a massive scale, this could save a lot of dead dinosaurs. For those outside of a country with strict homeowner's associations, there have been legal battles leading to foreclosures about things as silly as what color an owner paints their trim. Yes, most HOAs (in the US anyway) would not allow rooftop solar panels for aesthetic reasons.
Like Dubai.
That said, the main barriers are the cost to make PVs, and the storage of the energy itself.
Sunny climates could use the PV windows to generate electricity for cooling buildings, which is up to 40 percent of energy usage in a lot of the world, and even for vehicles to extend their running range, depending on the characteristics of the PV material.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Car tints were exactly what popped in my mind when I saw this article.
We are beginning to design stuff into cars which continuously draws power, much like the numerous things in our homes that never turn completely off.
Solar cells built into car windshields can be used to mitigate the effects of a car not having its engine running. An owner of a solar-cell windshield equipped car will be able to return to his car, parked at an airport after it has sat unused for possibly several weeks, and have the battery fully charged upon his return. I have traveled and it has always been a concern to me whether the car will start after I have ignored it for a week.
Just a few hundred milliamperes going into the battery would have mitigated this concern.
I do agree with the posters who have already pointed out that using this for office building windows is a lot of wasted expensive effort for a negligible ( and likely negative sans tax credits ) return on investment, considering the cost of line power. A car in a parking lot usually has no line power available.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
These people are actually freeloaders but of course he can't say what they really are because of political correctness that forces him to use softer words like "freeriders".
I don't want sewage electricity being forced down my throat after it's been on some other guy's filthy roof already! I'm an American; I have a right to choose clean electricity!
IN THE BEGINNING God created heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was floating on the surface of the waters. God said "let there be light" and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness with a thin film of perovskite on glass so that the material formed tiny crystalline islands. The islands absorbed photons and converted them unto electrons, whilst light striking the empty areas passed through. And God saw that it was good. Then God said "let the rooftops sprout with panels: panels bearing light from the heavens"; the ceilings brought forth electricity, freeriders yielding current with voltage in it, unto the grid. And God saw that it was good. Then to be fair he charged the freeriders $100 per month, which Arizona reduced to $5, for those who drilled the formless void of the earth for the Spirit of God, and have to distribute the unwanted surplus electricity. And God saw that it was good.
Raising code compliance issues when the item has not got as far as a prototype is taking a bit of an end run around reality. Thus I enquired as to why you wish to raise such unfounded fears, uncertainty and doubt.
I'm sick of such luddites that attack new technologies with such FUD when there is obviously no answer yet to the question raised. It's not even at the point where the standards that would be applied can be named let alone having something or a domestic electrician to wire up.
5V? 9V? 12V? 110V? How much current?
No answer yet.
Thus no answer to your deliberately unanswerable FUD question.
In a social situation you would get more subtle ridicule for such an end run around reality but here anything other than a blunt response to such deliberate manipulation seems to be taken as some sort of agreement.
And in case of crashing windows, you can see the blue screen of death.
Bert
Enron (later BP) Solarex pursued what were called Building Integrated PV panels back in the 90's, but abandoned the project (later sold to US Solar I believe).
Solarex was using germane/silane-doped amorphous silicon deposition at the time. TFA doesn't go much into the actual engineering here.
Main concerns, as always in PV, were efficiency and initial cost.
What is new here?
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
If the material Perovskite is as good as they say it is, why limit the application on only the windows ?
We can apply the same thing to walls, to roof, even to pavements, so long as the sunlight can shine on them they get to generate electricity.
Heck, we can apply it on the car windows and car body surfaces as well, and and store the power inside the battery - or use it to run, aka that solar car in the Logan Run's tv series (it was aired in the 1970's, far too old for the young uns to enjoy)
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Power companies lobbying for more obstacles and increased costs to be placed in front of consumers daring to consider panels.
Surely I'm not the only one that did a double take when I read that as "pervo-skite"...
Very simple. Thin film on glass = junk.
Actual silicon solar cells = good.
Mono crystalline = very good.
Citation? try www.google.com and my experience at wasting a LOT of money on the garbage sold at Harbor Freight, Sears, Home Depot, etc... if it's a "brown" color and a sheet of glass they are complete garbage.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.