Record-breaking transparent solar panels pave way for electricity-generating windows

Zeedox

Resident Canadian
Dec 1, 2020
9,316
7,244
113
Canada's Ocean Playground

Scientists have achieved a new efficiency record for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), opening up new commercial possibilities for transparent solar panels.

A team from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland made the breakthrough using specially designed photosensitizer dye molecules that when combined are capable of harvesting light from across the entire visible light spectrum.

The transparent properties of DSCs make them suitable for use in windows, greenhouses and glass facades, the researchers said, as well as in the screens of portable electronic devices.

They are also flexible, relatively low-cost and can be made using conventional roll-printing techniques. Theoretically, the price/performance ratio is also good enough to allow them to compete with fossil fuel electrical generation.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Gomez Adams