With the quest for transferring our energy needs to renewable sources becoming ever more important, scientists are focusing on creating super efficient solar panels to harness the sun’s power. But there’s one area of solar power that often gets overlooked in the news and during development: lifespan.
If you put objects in direct sunlight they degrade quickly. Solar panels are no exception and current panels will degrade over time, eventually becoming useless. What we need is a solar cell that does not degrade, or as MIT has just created, a solar cell that repairs itself.
Michael Strano is the chemical engineer at MIT who headed up the research and development of the new cell. He explained:
Sunlight, when it hits oxygen, is very damaging. It’s the reason why we age, and the reason why when we leave paper or plastic out in the sun, it fades. There’s a kind of a horse race among scientists around the world to make the highest efficiency cell, but very few people are asking what happens with that cell when you plug it in for a few hours or for a week or for months
Strano’s answer to cell degradation is to mix together a number of different components that would form into a solar cell on their own. This meant using the photosynthetic reaction center of plants, lipids that create cell walls, carbon nanotubes, and a surfactant that helps keep specific molecules separate.
As the cells are formed organically they can also deal with damage and repair any problems leading to a longer life and more efficient cell. As this is only the initial stages of the research the cells formed are nowhere near as efficient as those used today.
Read more at BBC News
Investing in solar panels today to power your home costs thousands of dollars and therefore takes years to recoup the value in lower electricity bills. If the panels you buy become less efficient, and eventually stop working, your investment becomes less cost effective.
I don’t think there’s anyone out there who wouldn’t want to take advantage of solar energy if it meant no power bill. But the upfront cost, and additional costs in the future to replace panels, surely put many people off. MIT’s development paves the way for solar cells in the future that outlive the person buying them.
While panels may continue to get more efficient I think a solar solution will mean many different objects collecting energy. Panels on the roof could one day be replaced by solar roof tiles. Your windows will be sprayed with a layer of solar film, and your exterior walls could also be used for capturing solar energy.