Researchers from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering on the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea have developed a brand new clear photo voltaic cell and module.

The staff’s design options an all-back-contact (ABC) configuration, which locations all electrical contacts on the again facet, making a glass-like clear crystalline silicon (c-Si) cell. They additionally developed Seamless Modularization know-how to remove gaps between gadgets with out the usage of steel wires, leading to a steel wire-free photo voltaic module.

The ABC design “not solely demonstrates the excessive energy conversion effectivity (PCE) of the photo voltaic cells but in addition ensures unobstructed visibility by way of the clear photo voltaic modules,” the researchers mentioned in “All-back-contact neutral-colored clear crystalline silicon photo voltaic cells able to seamless modularization,” lately revealed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The staff’s ABC-transparent c-Si photo voltaic cell achieved a PCE of 15.8% whereas sustaining a mean seen transmittance of 20%, whereas a 16 cm²-sized clear photo voltaic cell module recorded a PCE of 14.7%. The output voltage and energy are systematically tuned from 0.64 V and 15.8 mW for the 1 cm²-sized unit cell to 10.0 V and 235 mW for the 16 cm²-sized module.

The photo voltaic module has additionally been confirmed to have the ability to cost a smartphone utilizing pure daylight.

Researcher Jeonghwan Park and Research Assistant Prof. Kangmin Lee mentioned the research “basically solves the aesthetic downside of the present photo voltaic cell modularization methodology.” They defined that the clear silicon photo voltaic cell might be utilized in numerous industries and in small gadgets, in addition to buildings and automobile glass.

“We are opening a brand new path for modularization analysis, which is important for the commercialization of clear silicon photo voltaic cells,” added Prof. Kwanyong Seo. “We plan to proceed additional analysis in order that clear photo voltaic cells can turn out to be a key know-how within the eco-friendly future power business.”

In March, a UNIST analysis staff designed a PV-powered scalable photoelectrochemical system that produces inexperienced hydrogen.

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