Vertical Solar Farms Are Close To Becoming Real

Scientists at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University developed a high efficiency solar cell that could be used on buildings and house windows to generate energy.

The researchers set a new record of efficiency for Organic Solar Cells (OSC), with an efficiency of 19.31%. Organic Solar Cells use organic electronics to conduct energy, and the great thing about them is that, thanks to polymers, they can be transparent.

According to a report by Energy Live News, these cells could be implemented on building’s windows, allowing them to harvest solar energy. The report also said that these cells could be implemented on a large scale, making vertical solar farms on a set of buildings. Also, the cells could be used on community solar projects.

The researchers used carbon-based minerals to absorb sunlight and generate electricity while most OSC are silicon-based. According to a report by PV Tech, most OSCs struggle to achieve an efficiency of 11%.

“The new finding will make OSC research an exciting field, and this will likely create tremendous opportunities in applications like portable electronics and building-integrated PVs (Photovoltaic),” said Li Gang, chair professor of energy conversion at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

“I like transparent solar cell application as solar windows, which is a unique one for building-integrated photovoltaics [and] automobile applications. Our recent transparent OSC work represents the best transparent solar cell, not [one that is] limited to OSC.”

With this new technology, more people are getting closer to having solar energy in their houses and establishing community solar projects. Also, the world is getting closer to a future with cleaner energy.The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications.