Wouldn't it be great if solar panels could generate 30 percent more power than today's traditional panels and cost significantly less? In fact, about 70 percent less.
Well, the good news is that an international group of researchers have developed a new bifacial solar technology (catching the sun’s energy on both sides) that they claim can not only generate power with greater efficiency than traditional solar, but at significantly less cost than existing solar panels.
Scientists from the University of Surrey in England, working with colleagues around the world, have developed a flexible perovskite solar panel that use electrodes made of tiny carbon nanotubes.
“The world cannot decarbonise without solar power,” said Professor Ravi Silva, director of the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) and head of NanoElectronics Centre. “Yet that requires much cheaper solar energy than is currently available. Panels that can absorb the sun’s energy on both sides are a great way to make the technology more cost-effective."
"We have produced arguably the highest efficiency single junction solar cell to date. Our panels cost 70 percent less to make than a normal one-sided solar panel. This could significantly modify the market and simplify the architectures required based on perovskite solar cells.”