Comments on: Light-Bending Polymer Sticker Boosts Solar Panel Output by 10%

By: Talha123

Talha123 — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:56:52 +0000

hey i want to know how much a polymer sticker costs?

By: Off-the-Shelf Dyes Increase Solar Panel Absorption | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:26:00 +0000

[...] Ram Mehra of Sharda University in Greater Noida, India found that by using various dyes commonly utilized by the food industry in canned goods, off-the-shelf dyes like RIT, and dyes used by the medical industry, they could manipulate the color absorption spectrum of photovoltaic panels to make solar energy more effective. This innovation comes on the heels of other technological advances in the solar energy industry that are decidedly more future-forward — like innovations in light bending polymer stickers. [...]

By: gregb

gregb — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:34:43 +0000

Lukep– Your point is generally correct. For example, in a concentrating solar cell where a big mirror focuses sunlight onto a tiny solar cell, excess heating often reduces the advantage of concentration.

But, in the case of this film, solar warming is only increased by 10 or 20%- not enough to be a big concern. The reason it works better on overcast days is the little grooves bend light from scattered diffuse light back down into the cell- and this partially returns the efficiency back up to where it might have been on a sunnier day. So no adverse overheating.

The overheating issue is real, and that’s why some solar cells are mounted on a solar hot water collector- to sweep the excess heat away and store it in your basement’s water heater.

By: lukep

lukep — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:32:19 +0000

Actually a Bigger issue is that solar panels are all already designed to accept exactly so much sunlight in before overheating and becoming less efficient. So if this thing traps more energy in like they say, then your efficiency is sure to go down during the hottest parts of the day at least. (Which is supported by the fact that it works better in overcast situations.)

The bottom line is that Manufactures need to be installing such a layer on their products because they know the upper temperature limits. Anyone else selling this is just GREENWASHING.

By: gregb

gregb — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:47:58 +0000

The graphic illustrating how light transits their film is laughably incorrect- as any first year physics student would notice. So its a bit concerning Genie Lens is publishing bad engineering, when in fact grooved and faceted surfaces are known to improve solar cell efficiency.

The real issue is longevity- will these films stay clean from dirt and dust, and avoid yellowing in the sun?