Photovoltaic glass is potentially the latest new technology for solar panels that aims to change the solar scope. There are transparent solar panels that can produce energy from the windows literally—in offices, houses, sunroofs, or even smartphones. The first completely transparent solar concentrator was developed in 2014 by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU).
Practically any glass sheet or window could be turned into a PV cell by this transparent solar panel. By 2020, the U.S. and European researchers have reached full solar glass transparency already. These transparent solar panels, ranging from large window scratches to handheld devices such as a phone, a laptop, or an e-reader, can easily be used in various settings.
Types of Transparent Solar Panels
Much as today’s solar roofing panels come from various technologies. Solar windows are often built in different techniques (Tesla solar shingles and other technologies). Partial and full panels are the two main styles of transparent solar panels.
Partially Transparent Solar Panels
This partially transparent solar panel, which can absorb about 60% of the sunlight received, was created by a German manufacturer, Heliatek Gmb. The partially transparent solar panels have lower efficiency at 7.2 percent than conventional solar photovoltaic cells. However, by changing the balance between transmitted and consumed sunlight, solar power generation increased.
Fully Transparent Solar Panels
Researchers at MSU have made a breakthrough in producing fully transparent photovoltaic glass panels. These are similar to standard glass, as stated at the start of this article. Researchers predict that, after commercial development begins, these fully transparent solar panels’ efficiency is 10 percent. It is important to note that an effective solar window just makes the window larger than the more efficient panel to provide the same amount of electricity for solar panels windows. Once fully transparent solar panels are built into large windows in houses. They can only over-compensate for their lower performance by their potential deployment scale.
Final Note:
A transparent solar panel is basically a counterintuitive concept because solar cells must absorb and transform sunlight (photons) into power (electrons). If a solar glass is transparent, the medium is passed by the sunlight and the use of the sunlight is extracted.
