Transparent solar panels for windows hit record 8% efficiency

Housing, Innovation, Renewable, Retrofit, Solar, Technology

Buildings with glass facades typically have a coating on them that reflects and absorbs some of the light, both in the visible and infrared parts of the spectrum, to reduce the brightness and heating inside the building. Rather than throwing that energy away, transparent solar panels could use it to take a bite out of the building’s electricity needs. The transparency of some existing windows is similar to the transparency of the solar cells Forrest’s group reports in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

‘Though 8% efficiency does not seem like much, but this technology will continue to improve. The bonus is it will balance the energy lost through or heat imposed on glass and windows, putting it to use.’ Nuable