Tag Archive for: photovoltaics

Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels.

Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels. Now, materials called non-fullerene acceptors that can intrinsically generate charges when exposed to sunlight could make semitransparent organic photovoltaics easier to produce, a KAUST-led international team shows.

Semitransparent photovoltaics are able to convert sunlight into electricity without blocking visible light. This makes them attractive for building integrated applications, such as windows, facades and greenhouses.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PHYS.org

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Elevated metro stations may highly benefit from rooftop solar power generation combined w/ battery storage, new research from China suggests.

Researchers from the Xi’an Jiaotong University in China have investigated how rooftop solar and battery storage may help cover energy demand in elevated metro stations and found this combination may achieve a self-sufficiency rate of up to 54% and a payback time of 10.2 years.

“Our work is the first study focusing on the PV potential of elevated subway stations based on real energy loads,” the research’s lead author, Haobo Yang, told pv magazine. “Our findings are based on measured hourly load demands and include the impact of battery energy storage on PV system performance.”

In the study “Technoeconomic analysis of rooftop PV system in elevated metro station for cost-effective operation and clean electrification,” published in Renewable Energy, Yang and his colleagues said their work is intended to provide a benchmark for cost-effective operation and clean electrification in urban metro networks.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Metal trees with a seven-meter canopy of solar panels that generate electricity may soon be coming to car parks and shopping malls in the UK.

Metal trees with a seven-meter canopy of solar panels that generate electricity may soon be coming to car parks and shopping malls in the UK.

The structures, which will capture the sun’s energy through nano photovoltaic “leaves” and could store it in a battery placed within the tree’s trunk, were designed by British startup SolarBotanic Trees as a power source for charging electric vehicles (EV). The company recently completed a half-scale prototype of the device and is now looking to build and test a full-size version, before beginning commercial production at the end of the year.

In the UK, EV charging infrastructure is rapidly growing, with more than 40,000 public charging points installed by the end of April 2023, up 37% from the previous year, according to ZapMap, an EV mapping service. But this still does not keep up with demand, with the UK’s Climate Change Committee estimating that 325,000 charging points will be needed by 2032 to support the growing electric fleet.

Click here to read the full article
Source: CNN

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.