No.347396
Imagine a world where every pane of glass on the planet – from the screen on your smartphone to the windows on your house – was a solar panel capable of capturing energy. And not those blacked-out photovoltaic cells, either; we’re talking fully-transparent, crystal clear solar panels that look just like a piece of glass. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but believe it or not, the technology that would enable this kind of thing already exists. California-based startup Ubiquitous Energy has developed a completely transparent solar panel that’s practically indistinguishable from your average pane of glass – it’s just a matter of scaling it up for production and making the tech available. To find out how long we’ll have to wait until every building in the world is outfitted with power-generating window panes, we caught up with Ubiquitous Energy’s CEO and co-founder Miles Barr.
At first, the basics of transparent photovoltaics are a little counter-intuitive. A solar power cell indistinguishable from a standard pane of glass would have to let all visible light pass through in order to be fully transparent, but without capturing some of the light there is no source to generate power. But here’s the kicker — as it turns out, these solar cells aren’t capturing light that’s visible to the human eye. Instead, they’re designed to trap infrared and ultraviolet light, while allowing all visible wavelengths sail through unobstructed. Once the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths are captured, they’re directed to the edges of the panel, where the light is captured by a very thin strip of traditional photovoltaic material and transformed into electricity.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/ubiquitous-energy-transparent-solar-power-timeline/
No.347397
News does not belong on /n/.
No.347402
either onclude more crabs or
>>>/tech/
No.347405
>>347397
>>347402
You people really suck.
No.347406
>>347396
This is pretty damn awesome, if nothing else the impact it would have on the average persons bills is pretty sweet.
Have an anti-/intl/ bump.
No.347411
>>347396
>currently less than 10% efficiency
That's pretty terrible on the face of it, but being able to replace nearly any glass surface with solar panels might make up for that deficiency with volume.
One of the comments on the article had a good point in that most commercial and vehicle windows are tinted. Taking advantage of that to capture some visible light as well might make these cells more efficient, and thus more viable.
No.347413
No.347415
>>347396
Hopefully we can one day replace gas and nuclear power with this shit.
No.347432
w..wait….
it's a thing that absorbs light in able to make electricity… that light passes through….
>a thing that absorbs light that light passes through
wut?
No.347434
>>347432
NOT ALL OF THE LIGHT PASSES THROUGH IT
No.347436
i doubt the mAh gained was worth the grant. as it is, the largest amount of usable ultra-violet light is filtered by earth's atmosphere. and so, like every other solar powered array, it will be far more beneficial in space, ESPECIALLY THIS INVENTION. so yeah, traditional solar panels on earth to gather existing light. there might be a small market niche for windows, but i really think the benefits of this tech will blossom outside of earth. or perhaps mars?
nice article though anon.
No.347449
>>347396
Nifty.
But how does this apply to crabs?
No.347454
>>347449
solar-powered crabs G…
No.347463
>>347411
>make up for that deficiency with volume.
That's the point, its like that paint that would turn any surface into a solar panel but only has 5% efficiency tops
Its cheap as fuck and you could coat anything on it, from cars to entire buildings
No.347464
Picture led me to believe this would be about masturbation.
No.347470
>>347432
There's more than just visible light in the EM spectrum. 'Visible light' is just electromagnetic radiation in the narrow frequency band that we can see. Other animals can see wider or narrower bands; bees can see ultraviolet light, for instance.
Ultraviolet light is what these cells absorb. They're transparent to 'visible' light, but redirect UV radiation into photovoltaic strips at the sides to produce electricity.
No.347471
>>347432
Water passes through a hydroelectric dam, but we still get energy out of it.
CHECKMATE ATHEISTS
No.347843
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>347396
>not posting the video
this just screams "bullshit" to me.
"we selectively absorb the ultraviolet and infared"
nigger, infared has a very low energy, meaning the the band gap energy of the semiconductor must be at least that low for an electron to be freed by it, and the difference is wasted when a high energy wave like ultraviolet hits a low energy gap such as the one needed to pick up infared. and interlacing the two more optimal materials throughout the surface would simply be impractical.
i don't doubt that something like this can be made, but this guy sounds largely like he's talking shit.
No.347850
>>347434
So it's wasting energy then. Unless the glass was obviously tinted, there's no way it could absorb even 10% as much energy as a normal solar panel.
No.347854
>>347843
Indeed. This sounds like an inefficient money sink.
It would be cheaper, more efficient and easier to just install solar panels on the roofs of all buildings. But we haven't done that either because "muh aesthetics" and "muh building permits".
No.347870
>>347396
>Instead, they’re designed to trap infrared and ultraviolet light, while allowing all visible wavelengths sail through unobstructed. Once the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths are captured, they’re directed to the edges of the panel, where the light is captured by a very thin strip of traditional photovoltaic material and transformed into electricity.
Holy shit, this means this glass would also block spectral imaging tuned to UV or IR. Drones commonly use that shit to spy on or detect people.
These sources of energy also EXIT homes, especially at night, meaning they'd soak up energy not just from the sun, but would also recoup some of the energy spent lighting and heating your home.
No.347882
>>347432
Probably an effect similar to the way mirrors work anon. Everything you see in a mirror isn't reflected light–it's actually retransmitted light down at the molecular level.
No.347886
>>347854
is there a reason we don't just carve out a spot in the sahara desert and make a fuckhuge solar plant?
No.347889
>>347761
It looks like this kids face was the inspiration for pepe
No.347895
>>347886
If you've got that much sunlight consistently it's much more effective to simply use the reflected sunlight to generate heat, which can then drive turbines.
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/28751.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_solar_power
No.347896
>California-based startup
No.347906
>>347895
does that answer my question?
No.347908
>>347906
haha you tell me anon?
No.347910
>>347906
Yeah, kinda. What's the digging a fuckhuge hole for when you can just use mirrors?
No.347912
>>347908
>>347910
by "carve out a spot" i didn't mean i wanted to dig a hole in the ground. i mean basically "designate this area as for the fuckhuge solar plant"
No.347914
>>347912
Yea i got that. As i said it's far more efficient in both energy and money to simply use reflected heat and drive turbines. There are several examples already in operation across the US desert southwest.
No.347958
>>347912
actually there is put some effort in such a project in the sahara desert
its called "desert tech" or something along those lines.
but they have funding problems i think besides the very obvious problems like
sand damaging the panels
the long power lines that are necessary to power europe
and the occasional sandniggering which could render a (main) power source inoperable
No.347992
The reason normal solar panels aren't even very popular is because unless you get super efficient ones it costs more to repair than it produces in energy.
Ex: $1000 replacement of solar panels every 10 years but only $900 energy produced.
These clear ones are shit compared to the good ones. They are just fun toys comparitively.
No.347995
Fucking SJWs, I read Transgender solar cells in the title.
No.347996
>>347995
lol why is that the fault of someone else, mr. projecting projecterson?
No.348000
>>347843
yep
It's like that 'you can power electric appliances with a tiny strip of solar panel stuck on your window' scam
No.348005
I've heard about a bazillion solar technologies that never came to the market.
Wake me when I can buy it
No.348018
>>347402
>>347397
/intl/ pls kill self
No.348023
>>348005
You can be the first to buy it by contributing to our kikestarter goy!
No.348034
No.348066
>>347396
IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE IS SOLAR FRIGGIN' CELLS! ROADWAYS, WINDOWS, YOUR MOM - EVERYTHING IS SOLAR CELLS, AND IT SMELLS LIKE SOLAR CELLS AND IT TASTES LIKE SOLAR CELLS, AND IT FEELS LIKE SOLAR CELLS AGAINST YOUR DICK. MMMM! OH YEAH! I HAVE YOUR POWER SOLUTION RIGHT HERE, BABY!
No.348069
it's a retarded use of rare metals, all solar panels are, to be honest.
we need to invest in actual efficiënt power production, like fission, and in the long term, fusion.
No.348074
>>347396
>screen on your smartphone
>>347843
>mobile devices
Would this even be practical?
No.348078
No.348092
>>348069
Surprise, people already are.
No.348094
>>348074
>You'll feel the screen
Is that a cross section of a vagina?
That is totally a vagina.
Rorschach porn for the win.
No.348103
>>347914
when he said "lets make a huge solar plant" I don't think he was specifying a technology to use. I don't think you guys are disagreeing about anything just talking past each other.
No.348107
>>347411
I think the biggest issues would be cost efficiency. if it takes X amount of power to make 'em, can they make a return on that investement within a reasonable time assuming it doesnt break?
still it looks like it has a lot of potential
No.348111
>>347411
>10% efficiency while preserving visible light
>terrible
Please graduate highschool before you shitpost
No.348190
>>347411
>currently less than 10% efficiency
>That's pretty terrible
you do realize the efficiency for the average solar panel is is only about 15%
10% while being transparent and preserving visible spectrum is pretty fucking amazing
No.348220
>>347411
The only way solar cells could be viable on a car would be if they were just for tending the battery. The alternator already keeps the battery charged while the engine is running and the car itself is too heavy to be moved by such a small amount of battery power.
damnit hotwheels let me post
No.348300
No.348359
>>348069
What "rare materials" are use in creating solar panels, wise guy? You're just a fuckin luddite dude. Go worship your false god in a cave.
No.348363
>>347411
Replace every window on a skyscraper, an apartment building, every home, business, and so on, and that's a lot of extra energy that wouldn't otherwise be used.
I think the big hurdle is going to be getting those giant buildings to suck up the initial cost of installation to make this a useful thing. Hopefully new buildings that haven't been built yet will be able to have this glass, but I don't know how quickly we'll see this stuff be put to use.
No.348407
>>348359
more or less the same dopants that are needed to lay down you're microprocessor anon.
No.348455
>>347396
Gee what a wonderful invention, as if solar panels didn't had pitiful enough power output as it is.
No.348466
>>347850
Nigger this is fucking highschool level physics. When a fucking ray of light (or any othe wave) reaches the end of a medium, some of it is reflected, some is absorbed into the boundary, and some is transferred into the next medium
No.348472
>>347870
Regular glass already blocks heat-band IR light, all of the shit does pretty much. There's also already a "regular" glass that reflects non-visible light, it's called "hot mirror".
It won't recoup dick unless you use horribly energy-inefficient incadescent lamps that generate shitloads of IR and UV light in the first place. Electroluminescent lamps only generate light within visible spectrum, why do you think they take so little energy to produce so much light?
No.348581
>>348111
Does it really imply 10% efficiency of converting all incident light, or just 10% of IR and UV?
No.348863
>>348220
>Buy solar battery charger for dead car battery
>Sunny day
>Can't start the car even after seven hours of sunlight
nah fuck it
No.348876
>>348069
99% (generally more) of a solar panel's functioning material is silicon. these "rare elements" are measured in the parts per million range of the semiconductors.
No.348896
>>347396
>Visible light goes through the panel while infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths are redirected to the edges where they get captured by a real solar cell.
Translated to my thought language.
Awesome innovation. Thank you, OP.
No.348899
>>347995
Every kid knows that there would be no solar power without transgender fairies.
>>347996
He’s right, this is my fault.
No.348909
>>347895
>low-tech superpower
Only imagine the uses in ancient Egypt…
No.349033
>>347396
>>347406
Too bad the amount of energy solar panels produce don't come close to the amount it takes to manufacture them.
There's a reason why solar arrays are just mirrors pointed at a black tank of water.
No.349133
No.349143
No.349487
No.349684
Okay, what about the thermal energy lost that could go through the window and create a cozy warm spot for your cat to take a nap in?
Czechmate, cucks