Researchers have discovered solar panel efficiency could be improved significantly by covering their surface with tiny aluminium studs.
While invisible to the naked eye, the pattern of the studs when viewed under a microscope look similar to Lego. By bending and trapping light inside the absorbing layer of a solar cell; these studs could improve efficiency by up to 22 percent.
The research, carried out by scientists from Imperial College London and colleagues from the University of Tokyo, IMEC and Soochow University in China, has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“The success of our technology, in combination with modern anti-reflection coatings, will take us a long way down the path towards highly efficient and thin solar cells that could be available at a competitive price,” said lead author Dr Nicholas Hylton from Imperial College London’s Department of Physics
“The key to understanding these new results is in the way the internal structures of these metals interact with light.”
One of the crucial aspects to the success of the design was the choice of materials. While sunlight can penetrate and be absorbed gold and silver; aluminium bends and scatters light – and is much cheaper. The development could be a boon for thin film solar, which has been somewhat limited in efficiency due to the layer of light-absorbing material being too thin to harvest energy equivalent to conventional solar panels.
In addition to use on full size solar panels, the technology can be applied to any flat or curved surface to power or help power everything from domestic appliances to portable electronics.
Imperial College London was founded in 1907 and currently boasts 13,964 full-time students from 126 countries. Its Physics Department was ranked 2nd in Europe and 13th in the World by ARWU 2011.
