Solar panel windows achieve record-breaking energy efficiency

Researchers have achieved an efficiency record for transparent solar cells, paving the way for skyscraper windows to serve as power sources. A team from the University of Michigan used an organic, carbon-based design to transform sunlight into electricity with an efficiency rate of 8.1 per cent. Commercial solar cells, which are typically made using silicon rather than carbon, tend to have an efficiency rate of between 14 and 19 per cent. "Windows, which are on the face of every building, are an ideal location for organic solar cells because they offer something silicon can't, which is a combination of very high efficiency and very high visible transparency," said Stephen Forrest, a professor of engineering who led the research. The transparency of the solar cells used in the research had 43.3 per cent transparency, which is similar to the transparency of windows used in skyscrapers and tinted car windows.