Michigan State University scientists have developed a new plastic see-through solar collector that they say can harvest solar energy and be used to power smart phones and tablets without blocking the view.
The team created the system using luminescent solar collecting material, or LSC – inexpensive plastic slabs with the ability to absorb light and re-emit it at much higher intensities. By manipulating organic molecules on the surface of the LSC, the researchers were able to tune it collect specific nonvisible wavelengths of sunlight.
Although colourful LSCs have previously taken the form of stained glass windows and tiny American flags, the MSU’s ultimate goal was a completely transparent solar collector.
“No one wants to sit behind coloured glass,” said Richard Lunt, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at MSU. “It makes for a very colourful environment, like working in a disco. We take an approach where we actually make the luminescent active layer itself transparent.”
“Because the materials do not absorb or emit light in the visible spectrum, they look exceptionally transparent to the human eye.”
The system switches near-infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths of sunlight into form of ‘glowing’ infrared light, which then passes to photovoltaic strips at the edge of the material and is converted into electricity.
The MSU team say more work is needed to bring the technology up to scale. Right now the transparent solar collector produces a puny one per cent solar conversion efficiency – compared to seven per cent for most coloured LSCs. The wide range of applications beyond traditional solar sources, they believe, will be the key to its success.
“It opens a lot of area to deploy solar energy in a non-intrusive way,” Lunt said. “It can be used on tall buildings with lots of windows or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader. Ultimately we want to make solar harvesting surfaces that you do not even know are there.”
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