An ideal solar cell is black, not transparent. A completely transparent one couldn't possibly capture any solar energy. And even partial transparency is going to majorly reduce the efficiency.
While it's true that a transparent solar cell is giving up on the absorption of all visible light, the purpose of this device isn't absolute solar efficiency, it's broader application. Even if you had a perfect solar panel, you wouldn't stick it where you would stick a window. They serve two starkly contrasting purposes. The goal here is to have an optically transparent solar panel that could be installed in place of windows, LED screens, and other glass applications. By turning a variety of every day surfaces into a solar cell, you could collect energy from places where conventional solar cell installations are either non-ideal or impossible.
Cool tech. I wonder how they're separating the cells on the panel, if they are. Otherwise, they have one gigantic cell which produces a good amount of current but at very low voltage.
[–] glugglug 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
An ideal solar cell is black, not transparent. A completely transparent one couldn't possibly capture any solar energy. And even partial transparency is going to majorly reduce the efficiency.
[–] jxfaith ago
While it's true that a transparent solar cell is giving up on the absorption of all visible light, the purpose of this device isn't absolute solar efficiency, it's broader application. Even if you had a perfect solar panel, you wouldn't stick it where you would stick a window. They serve two starkly contrasting purposes. The goal here is to have an optically transparent solar panel that could be installed in place of windows, LED screens, and other glass applications. By turning a variety of every day surfaces into a solar cell, you could collect energy from places where conventional solar cell installations are either non-ideal or impossible.