There is a new technology in the solar power industry you may have not yet heard of. New Energy Technologies have just unveiled their new solar window coating. The see-thru spray consists of the worlds smallest organic solar cells, and is easily applied to glass window surfaces without blocking the sunlight from your home or business.
Some of the highlights of this technology are:
- The solar cells in the spray are so small that they measure about a 1/4 the size of a grain of rice.
- The coating is very easy to apply and does not need costly vacuum or high temperature techniques but can instead be sprayed on at room temperature.
- The solar window coating conducts electricity from both natural light and does a much better job at generating electricity from artificial lighting. In fact it can generate up to ten fold the electricity from artificial light then traditional solar cells.
The aspect that really gets me excited aside from the ease of installation is the fact that it can generate quite a bit more power from artificial light then traditional PV cells. This is pretty cool because one of the disadvantages to today’s solar cells is it’s dependency on direct sunlight, this is a problem because it dictates where you need to place solar cells on your residence or business. What New Energy Technologies is proposing is that you will be able to use solar window coating on all of your glass windows and conduct energy from artificial light such as fluorescent as well, instead of just applying it to areas where there is direct sunlight.. How much energy and savings could be garnered from artificial light I am not quite sure about yet and will have to be seen, but the prospect non the less is interesting.
Unfortunately the companies website is a little vague on how the solar cells are actually able to do this, but it does state that in a scientific study:
“Under normal office lighting conditions, without the benefit of outside natural light from windows, New Energy’s ultra-small solar cells produced:
- Almost 2-fold greater output power density than monocrystalline silicon, an established commercial solar cell material;
- More than 8-fold greater output power density than copper-indium-selenide, known for its high optical absorption coefficients and versatile optical and electrical characteristics; and
- More than 10-fold greater output power density than flexible thin-film amorphous-silicon, a popular ‘second-generation’ solar thin-film material.”
So, we will have to see if the energy generated from artificial light is enough to be considered any value on it’s own, but as an additional source of energy combining with the energy generated from direct sunlight, along with the ease of use, solar window coating may be a strong contender. Time will tell, and we’ll keep you updated.
What do you think about Solar Window coating, breakthrough, or meh? Be sure to let us know.
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