- Image by lcrf via Flickr
A team of researchers at the Ikerlan-IK4 technological centre in Spain have made a laboratory-scale photoelectric panel which, apart from fulfilling the function of converting solar light into electricity, solves the problems of integratability and availability that current technology presents.
The installation of solar photoelectric panels – capable of converting the sun’s light energy into electricity for its subsequent use in households or for sale to an energy supply company – has taken place at such a frenetic pace in recent years that it has given rise to a demand that is greater than the production capacity of the manufacturing companies. On the one hand, legislation obliges the installation of solar panels on all local authority buildings of new construction. Likewise, tariffs for the sale of electrical energy, favourable to individuals selling to energy suppliers, have been set. This has encouraged the construction of many small energy-producing stations – also called solar gardens – by small investors, who have seen solar photoelectric energy as a way of assuring or increasing their pension plans.
Nevertheless, the growing demand for panels, and especially the raw material needed for their manufacture – mono or multi-crystalline silicon -, has made the end price for installation rise to such levels that the period of redemption is greater even than the guaranteed life of the solar panels. More conflictive is perhaps the dependence on the producers of these cells (most of which are located in Far Eastern countries) and created by the module assembly and installation companies – Spain being a leading country in this respect. Although this scarcity of raw material has been sometimes described as transitory and it this has been repeated actively or passively that the production of cells has increased, the price per panel continues to be relatively high – an so other kinds of investment, despite having very low interest rates, continue to be more profitable.
Apart from the price, the traditional photoelectric technology based on silicon panels that are voluminous, heavy, opaque and dark, also finds widespread rejection in the construction sector. Architects, obliged by law to implement it in buildings, do not find easy solutions, limiting the installation to places with little visual impact, such as roofs and terraces.
For these reasons, one of the most innovative lines of research worldwide is the quest for new materials that comply with the function of converting solar light into electricity and, at the same time, solve problems of integratability and availability that are present in current technology.
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It is indeed amazing that we can make use of it's heat. To have energy for our homes and appliances and of course, to save!
Solar energy panels really helped many people. It is very useful and reasonable in saving money. It is all natural and a green nature friendly.