How your windows could be the future of electricity: Scientists create transparent solar panels out

linky

Gotta love science.



So we now have a 70% transparent solar panel. I wouldn't mind this in my house.
Sure it would be a little cloudy looking out the window but at least the window would be making electricity.
This makes me wonder if they could make a film out of the PSC which could be applied to a window like a window tint.
I think that would be the better way to go.

One of the occasional complaints around solar panels is that they are 'an eyesore'.

Well this may be about to change, after researchers developed a new transparent solar cell which means windows in homes and other buildings can have the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside.

The University of California, Los Angeles team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, making the cells nearly 70 per cent transparent to the human eye.

They made the device from a photo-active plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

wow, more suppressed technology, i look forward to not be able to buy this in the future.

Looks like a revision of the panels the Japanese came up with a few years ago.

I have to wonder about the conversion efficiency and relative manufacturing costs... as well as structural concerns.

Sure - a photovoltaic window is pretty cool (would be even better with adjustable tinting... the less light you want, the more light is harnessed for power) - but I also want a strong window that will tell the proverbial baseball to go # itself with a cactus. While multi-pane windows offer a potential solution to this - would having an outer layer of a tougher window reduce the effectiveness of this solar panel? ... Or is it strong enough on its own?

Also... how many pretty pennies would it cost?

The sad reality is that most photovoltaic solutions out there, currently, will never pay for themselves outside of areas with ridiculously high electricity costs. While adding them to windows may be interesting... I just don't see it as being practical outside of very large glass structures or if they could be made price-competitive with current glass panes (IE - no real reason not to use them).