Scientists at the Australian National University have developed a new type of solar cell with increased efficiency. By making the panels double-sided, they set a world record - electricity is generated from light falling on both the front and back of the battery.
According to the head of the research group Dr. Kean Chern Fong, the panels of the new type easily bypass traditional one-sided structures based on silicon. One side of such a battery generates electricity from direct sunlight, while the other captures light reflected from the ground and other objects, giving an energy gain of 30%. According to the authors of the project, with the growing popularity of solar panels, batteries of a new type will be able to occupy up to 50% of the market within the next five years.
The new technology does not imply a critical increase in material costs; all solutions are fully compatible with existing production lines. Taking into account the fact that the front panel efficiency is up to 24.3%, and the rear one demonstrates up to 23.4%, the overall gain in theory reaches 96.3% compared to traditional one-sided solutions. In practice, the efficiency of a double-sided panel is 29%, which is a world record anyway.
The project was supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Australian Center for Advanced Photovoltaic Energy (ACAP).
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment and facebook share will be appreciated