Power, But Only In The Sun

As we continue to add technology to our lives in new an interesting ways, we need to be equally innovative in the ways that we power those devices. One option, while not exactly a new concept but steadily progressing in its effectiveness, is solar power. We’ve been harnessing the potential of light to power devices like calculators for decades, how much more difficult could it be to scale it up and power larger stuff? Well as anyone who’s ever bought those barely functional, solar-powered garden lights knows, it’s not quite as simple as that.

Solar panels were invented in 1954 by scientists at Bell Labs, which was a research and development company owned by AT&T. The scientists, Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller, created the first solar panel using silicon, a common semiconductor material. Solar panels are made up of photovoltaic or PV cells, which when you expose them to sunlight, it excites the electrons in the atoms of the silicon, causing them to move and generate a flow of electricity. The issue we run into is one of that conversion, from light to electricity, is quite inefficient with today’s panels.

While the efficiency of solar panels has improved significantly over the years, modern solar panels can only convert up to 15to 20 percent of the sunlight they receive into electricity. That leaves a considerable amount wasted due to resistance, subsequent heat, and some light simply being reflected back into the atmosphere. Those high temperatures also themselves cause solar panels to become less efficient. When the temperature of the solar panel increases, the voltage of that panel decreases, which reduces the amount of electricity it generates. So while the more sun which hits the panel, the more electricity it can generate, they actually operate more efficiently in cooler climates.

As research continues, these issues will of course become less and less prevalent. One promising avenue is using perovskite solar panels. These perovskite cells have the potential to be much more efficient and less expensive than their silicon based counterparts. In fact, they’ve already achieved efficiencies comparable to the most efficient silicon cell. While still early in development, and with some significant durability issues to overcome, they’re likely to be the next step for solar. Transparent solar cells are a hotly requested technology, due to several potential advantages over traditional solar cells. For example, they can be integrated into buildings without significantly altering their appearance or functionality, which can make them an attractive option for architects and designers. It’s not difficult to see how simply making our windows energy generating is attractive.

Solar energy is highly versatile and can be used in a wide range of applications, from large-scale utility projects to small-scale residential installations as well as scaling down even further to the per-device level. This versatility makes it an attractive option for meeting a variety of energy needs and can help to improve energy security and access in remote communities. There are certainly some challenges that need to be addressed in order to fully realize the potential of solar energy, such as improving the efficiency of solar panels and developing better energy storage technologies. However, ongoing research and development in this area, as well as continued policy support and investment, are likely to lead to continued improvements and increased adoption of solar energy in the future.