The world is changing over to clean, green energy and continually evolving technology gives us cheaper, better options to power our homes. Now, a team of scientists from Queensland, Australia, has created what they’re calling “British-weatherproof” technology.
These new solar panels can generate electricity in low light conditions, are more energy-efficient, more flexible than traditional solar panels and also more affordable.
The team’s research was led by Professor Lianzhou Wang from the University of Queensland in Australia, of their new design he says:
Essentially, we’ve developed solar technology that is British weatherproof. It can produce energy indoors or even when it is cloudy and wet. It is also printable, flexible and transparent – meaning it could be used as a skin to power next-generation electric cars or applied as a film to windows on buildings and homes.
The team found a way to use extremely small nanoparticles, or “quantum dots”, that are five billionths of a meter in size and added them to a liquid. This liquid can be printed onto a surface and, once it hardens, forms a flexible solar layer.
The nanoparticles are capable of generating electrical current between one another through the passing of electrons, making them perfect for applications involving solar cells. Professor Wang claims that these new cells can generate energy 25% more efficient than the previous world record for solar cells.
He talks about their achievement:
This opens up a huge range of potential applications, including the possibility to use it as a transparent skin to power planes, homes, and wearable technology. This new generation of quantum dots is compatible with more affordable and large-scale printable technologies.
Professor Wang added these quantum dot solar cells are around 20% more efficient in low light conditions than conventional solar cells. This is because they absorb a broader spectrum of light than traditional cells.
It’s great to see the advancements in solar and wind energy being invented around the world. Solar panels actually perform better when it’s not super-hot outside, so they actually are more efficient in latitudes further from the equator. Now that we have better material sciences we can produce high energy solar cells, that are even more weatherproof. This should encourage more companies and individuals to switch to solar around the world.
