Transparent solar cells can provide energy directly from glass surfaces

A technology that allows you to charge a battery directly from a smartphone screen has emerged. A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a method for powering directly from the glass of buildings, cars and mobile devices using transparent solar cells. The study is published in PNAS.

Professor Kwanyong Seo and his research team from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST have presented a new type of transparent solar cell and module with high efficiency while maintaining colorless and transparent properties similar to glass.

It achieved colorlessness and transparency by introducing an “all-back contact” design that places all solar cell components on the back. It achieved the high efficiency and aesthetics that transparent solar cells must have at the same time.

The research team developed a seamless modularization technology that eliminates gaps between devices without using metal wires. In the existing modularization method, the gap between devices and opaque metal wires has solved the problem of damaging the aesthetics of transparent solar cells.

The new 16 cm²The smartphone-sized transparent solar cell module features high efficiency, ranging from 20% to 14.7% in transmittance, while maintaining a similar aesthetic to a single device. It also successfully charged a smartphone using natural sunlight. It also proved the possibility of using the screen of a small mobile device as a power source.

“This study fundamentally solved the aesthetic problem of the existing solar cell modularization method through the design of the new device structure,” said researcher Jeonghwan Park and research assistant professor Kangmin Lee. “It showed the possibility that transparent silicon solar cells can be used in various industries such as small appliances as well as buildings and automotive glass.”

Professor Seo said, “We have opened a new avenue for modularization research, which is essential for the commercialization of transparent silicon solar cells,” and added, “We plan to continue research so that transparent solar cells can become a key technology in the future environmentally friendly energy industry.”