Innovations in solar

The dilemma of producing clean, affordable energy is pushing millions toward solar power. Prices for solar panels are falling making solar an affordable option for home and business owners looking to improve air quality and save significant quantities of money. The solar industry has gained the solid standing it now enjoys by employing successful technologies, but there also is always room for improvement. Here are some technological advances that are notable in 2018:

A solar window that switches

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)  said that its scientists have created a new window technology that transforms from clear to tinted in sunlight, and makes electricity in the process. NREL said that the windows are based on advanced materials, such as perovskites and single-walled carbon nanotubes. NREL noted that during testing, the window’s performance was reduced as it cycled between tinted and not tinted states, so researchers are trying to improve that performance. While NREL’s switching solar window has a way to go before production, another solar window company is gaining ground. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Next Energy Technologies Inc. $2.5 million in July to transfer its PV-based window technology to pilot manufacturing. The windows gather light in the infrared/UV spectrum and allow light to pass through them.

A twist on solar storage

Researchers in Australia have invented a way to use gold to store the energy of sunlight in a fuel. They used metallic-gold particles to convert solar energy to methane and methanol. The researchers have not identified a way to generate the fuel at scale, but they are working on it. According to the research team, the idea of chemical energy storage is not really new, but their work has a focus on nano-clusters they say is more efficient than other technologies, and may be the key to helping allow production to large scale.

Solar in a spray

A British company made headlines this year when it stated it would be ready to release a spray-on solar product in 2018. The idea is to mix perovskites with a liquid solution that can be sprayed, and that would rival silicon in efficiency. While there are questions about the product's long-term stability, some say the opportunities to make walls or cars into power generators is an opportunity that deserves considerable research.

Stable Perovskites

Some solar technologies, such as windows or spray, are based on perovskites — a mineral with a crystalline structure that efficiently converts sunlight to energy. Researchers say that crystalline structures are fragile, which has hindered the promise of perovskites.
A team at Stanford University, however, believes it has found a solution to the problem. The team released its findings this year for a promising compound solar cell that has a honeycomb structure to boost the perovskite cells. They say that the new structure would allow perovskites to tolerate manufacturing and long-term use in the real world.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system!

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.