The future of solar looks even brighter with a new innovation that will offer a variety of color options for solar panels. A Swiss company named Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) have devised a new technique which will enable consumers to choose from different colors. Solar energy has a lot of potential as an alternative source to the existing methods of energy which are dependent on the combustion of fossil fuels.
The increase in global temperatures has been noted by various scientists and research centres who have raised the alarm levels to proportions which really needs to be attended by the leaders of nations.
Since the discovery of solar energy way back in 1839 by Edmond Becquerel, the utilization of solar power has come a long way. As of 2012, the global power production of solar power was about 100 gigawatts.
Solar panels are made from three types of silicon which are Monocrystalline, Polycrystalline and Thin-Film or Amorphous. The most commonly used out of these three is the Monocrystalline silicon as they are long-lasting, most efficient especially in highly sunny climates and also take less space.
The team at CSEM have come up with world’s first white solar modules..
One of the drawbacks for these solar panels is that their efficiency is reduced by almost 50% during cloudy conditions. A workaround for this is if the houses are connected to the grid-tied solar electric system, they won’t face issues.
Since dark color absorbs the maximum sunlight, all this while the photovoltaic cells were kept dark in color. Although this was one of the most efficient ways of harvesting the sunlight, architects were left with a certain degree of limitations and restrictions with terms of the colors of solar panels.
In order to have a greener and sustainable future, having an independent set of solar panels would play a vital role. But due to the lackluster and non-appealing designs of these solar panels, many buildings refrain from having them situated around there building complexes. Well, that could change very soon.
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With the latest type of solar panel modules designed by CSEM, the dull looking blue-black panels could soon be out of fashion. The team at CSEM have come up with world’s first white solar modules to do the task. This would certainly be followed up by more color panels that will be aesthetically designed.
These brighter colors will not only improve the appearance but also reduce the temperatures of the solar panels.
With the options of different colors the application of this type of solar panels can break barriers and be efficiently used in devices like laptops, mobile phones, vehicles like cars and buses and so on. Check out this video that highlights the potential of the new colored solar panels.
The engineers at CSEM decided to experiment with white color as it is one of the most common colors which buildings use. They used a layer of plastic to cover the panels. This plastic acts like a scattering filter that reflects all visible light but allows the infrared rays to go through the plastic to those panels which then produce electricity.
Innovation is not an option but a necessity.
An added advantage which CSEM pointed out is that this particular method of adding layers can be used on any existing solar panels which are flat or curved and also compatible with any type of crystalline silicon cell.
Adding to the benefits of this new type of layer, engineers at CSEM claim that apart from the appearance that will be significantly improved these brighter colors will reduce the temperatures of the solar panels thus helping them to work more efficiently. As a result, the air conditioning costs will also be reduced.
Mario El-Khoury, the CEO of CSEM aptly puts forth the company’s vision with his quote, “Innovation is not an option but a necessity.” With more new innovations being brought about in the fields of solar energy, there are very few reasons for not opting for solar power.
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