Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label renewable energy

Capturing 30% More of the Sun’s Energy with Solar Panels

Sustainable technology is developing. As researchers put more energy into sustainable technology like solar panels they naturally become more efficient and cost effective.   Chemists led by Jianhui Hou from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and North Carolina State University created a polymer known as PBT- OP that, “ was not only easier to make than other commonly used polymers but showed an open circuit voltage value of 0.78 volts — a 36 per cent increase over the 0.6 volt average from similar polymers ” ( 1 ). This means that solar panels may soon be 30% more effective than in the past.   The discovery helps to retain more excitrons than in the past ( 2 ).   When electrons make their way onto the solar panel a certain amount of energy is lost in the transfer from the donor to the receptor. The new polymer will allow for a higher level of efficiency in transfer without as much loss. This may not be so exciting for some people. Yet if we think about the long term implication