A chemical engineer in the USA claims he has developed a new flexible solar panel which can capture up to 95 percent of available light energy by harnessing infrared light and areas of the solar spectrum standard photovoltaic (PV) cells ignore.
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the University of Missouri (MU) Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional solar panels is inefficient – up to about 20 percent light-to-energy conversion rate – and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum.
His team have developed a thin, mouldable solar sheet that incorporates small antennas that are conventionally used to convert heat to energy in industrial processes. These antenna – or nantenna, as they are known, work in concert with the solar PV process, collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum and converting it to electricity.
Through funding from the US Department of Energy and private investment, Pinhero hopes to have an industrial-grade solar product ready for sale to large-scale facilities like commercial solar farms within five years, along with flexible rooftop solar panels designed to complement standard home PV energy systems.
The University of Missouri team is confident their new solar panel will put them ahead of the competition in years to come.
“Our overall goal is to collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible and bring it to the commercial market in an inexpensive package that is accessible to everyone,” Pinhero says. “If successful, this product will put us orders of magnitudes ahead of the current solar energy technologies we have available to us today.”
