Transparent Solar Cell window Generate Power in the near Future
In the near future, the days when curtains and blinds are gone.
Do you know smart dimmer glass? By combining liquid crystal films, it is a glass that can adjust light transmittance. It might be easy to understand if you ask the sci-fi movie to imagine a glass that switches between transparency and opaque in a moment. As I often see in movies, it may seem like an unrealistic product, but in January this year Asahi Glass took the initiative to smart light control glass based in San Francisco, Kinestral Technologies It is a product that is getting closer to practical use, such as expressing investment in the company.
However, there are still more challenges to popularize. Since electric power is essential to move the smart light control glass, construction is necessary to install it in the existing building. Considering the cost aspect, there are things that are difficult to introduce to general households. Opening and closing are troublesome, but as a function, you can substitute curtains or blinds.
Therefore, the research team at Princeton University developed a transparent solar cell using near ultraviolet light and made smart dimmer glass capable of self-generation.
Video demonstration of light through smart window
A general silicon solar cell absorbs visible light and infrared rays and generates electricity, which makes it black and it can not be incorporated into smart light control glass. On the other hand, since the solar cell developed this time uses invisible near ultraviolet light, light such as visible light and infrared light can pass through it. Therefore, compatibility with smart light control glass is outstanding. The research team developed this transparent solar cell by using an organic semiconductor which can change the chemical structure so that it can absorb only a narrow range of wavelengths (in this case ultraviolet light). The research results are published at Nature Energy.
Then, the research team developed a smart dimming glass that applied this transparent solar cell. You can see the video above, but you can change the color of the glass from transparent to dark blue. It seems that you can cut more than 80% of the light in the darkest condition.
Nicholas Davie, the principal author of this research paper and a doctoral student, talks about research results as follows.
In the future, even people living in homes and apartments will be able to use this wireless smart light control glass like an adhesive sheet and use it as a smart light control glass simply by sticking it to the window. Also, by adjusting the sun entering the room using the application, you can expect energy efficiency and privacy to be improved.
It seems that, if it can be easily attached and detached like an adhesive sheet and it can be easily operated with an application, it will spread at once. It may be desirable to have a function that changes transparency so that sunlight enters in conjunction with alarm clock. However, although I want to avoid only the situation where the room is hacked suddenly looking like the whole room ... For practical use, let's expect for future development.
