Solar energy is becoming more and more important as countries look to reach net zero as soon as possible and switch from fossil fuels to renewables.
Solar energy has significant potential and is much cleaner than gas or coal, which are notorious for harmful emissions (notably carbon dioxide). Just 90 minutes of sunlight could generate enough energy to meet the Earth’s energy requirements for an entire year!
Modern (silicone) solar panels were first developed around 1954 by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. Now, scientists from Oxford University have made a potentially game-changing breakthrough.
A New Material
Scientists from the Physics Department have developed a revolutionary light-absorbing and power-generating material.
The material, named perovskite, is both thin (just over one micron) and flexible – meaning that it can be applied to the surfaces of numerous objects including everyday items such as cars, mobile phones, rucksacks and other items that are regularly exposed to sunlight. It could potentially even be applied to buildings and aeroplanes.
By piling many light-absorbing layers into a single solar cell, it can capture more of the light spectrum, meaning that more power can be generated compared to traditional silicon photovoltaics.
Solar panel installers in Portishead
If solar panels are something that you would be interested in adding to your property, there are several specialist solar panel installers Portishead and the surrounding area. A number of these have useful online resources, such as the examples seen here: /redbridgeandsons.co.uk/solar-pv-panels/solar-panel-installers-portishead.
Traditional silicone solar panels are around 22% efficient. Perovskite coatings can currently deliver around 27% energy efficiency – and there is definite potential for this to get even better (possibly even as high as 45-50%).
Oxford PV (a private spin-off company) has recently begun scaling up the production of perovskite photovoltaics at its factory in Berlin. This now includes the production of ‘perovskite-on-silicon’ solar cells
If enough energy can be harnessed in this way, it could potentially reduce the need for large solar farms and expensive solar panel installations.
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