
There has been an increase and demand for the use of solar energy over the last few decades as we become more environmentally aware. Solar energy is a renewable clean energy that has more advantages than just lessening your carbon footprint on the atmosphere. That is why working with a solar energy company in California for your solar needs would help you harness solar power and convert it into electricity that you could use in your own home.
With the advancements that we have with our technology, it is no surprise that there have been a few advancements in the solar field and we continue to make advancements. But what are the latest developments in solar energy?
3 New Solar Power Technologies
1. Floating Photovoltaic Solar Panels
There are some large bodies of water that are available for you like reservoirs and lakes. You Would be able to massively produce large amounts of energy without having to take up all of this valuable land and real estate when you are using gloating PV solar panels, which would have to be one of the major advantages of it actually.
Water could also increase the electricity production of your cells by 10 percent, while regular PV solar panels usually use air-cooling to prevent overheating. The cost of maintenance with floating PV cells is also less expensive because the water would help the PV panels remain dirt-free.
2. Integrated Photovoltaics
With the recent development in the solar industry, architects have now been integrating photovoltaic solar panels into the design of the infrastructure, making it look aesthetically appealing.
There have been a lot of customized solar panels that are being fitted in the features of different architectures like terraces and canopies. PV glass would have to be one of the most versatile solar products though.
3. Thin-Film Solar Cells
Recent research has proven that having solar cells that are up to 4 layers is far more effective because it would allow you to gather up about 46 percent of the energy of the sun, compared to the standard panels that could only harness about 18 percent. But these panels would be expensive and inconvenient.
With thin-film solar cells, not only is it flexible, but it is also lightweight and thin when you compare them to the standard photovoltaic panels. It would easily be used on circular structures, window shades, over your doorways, and tents. It would be able to capture about 13 percent of the energy of the sun and be more effective when you use it in low light levels.
New and Emerging Developments in Solar Energy
- Refrigeration thermodynamic cycle or the Novel Combine Power
There have been researchers who have been working on the development of new thermodynamic cycles and improving existing ones over the last 2 decades. Using the multi-component working fluids by Goswami last 1998 had been used by a lot of researchers to help in the improvement of the thermal power cycles. This is where they would use working fluid, like steam, and boil it at a constant pressure.
- Disinfection of water and air and Photcatlytic detoxification
Recently, Photocatalytic detoxification has been scientifically recognized and used in research even though solar radiation used for disinfection and environmental mitigation has been known for a few years now. This would be able to help the importance of the humongous environmental problems that we have now, that are hugely caused by industrial development.
- Antenna solar energy conversion
Using Photovoltaic cells, there would be direct solar energy conversion from solar to electricity that would use the photovoltaic effect. This effect would generally depend on the interaction between the photons, and the energy that is equal to or more than the band-gap of the materials that you have used. As years pass and research and advancement have been down, there is an increase in the efficiency of photovoltaic cells.
Recent Developments and Future Advancements in Solar
Types of solar cells
- First-generation
- Mono-crystalline silicon solar cells
- Multi-crystalline silicon solar cells
- Second generation
- Copper Indium Gallium Di-Selenide (CIGS) Solar
- Amorphous Silicon Thin Film (a-Si)
- Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Thin Film Solar Cell
- Third generation
- Polymer-based solar cells
- Concentrated solar cells
- Nano crystal-based solar cells
- Dye-sensitized solar cells
- Transparent solar cells technologies
- Perovskite solar cell
- Near-Infrared transparent solar cell
- Transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC)
- Polymer solar cell (PSC)
Recent developments
The recent development that was made in solar as of the moment is the MPPT by ANFIS control where they have developed a hybrid method that is based from the architecture of both the neutral network and the fuzzy logical interference.
Engineering, manufacturing, physics, and chemistry are only some of the many sectors that are applied in the new methods they use PV arrays and wind turbines. There are about 5 layers when it comes to the ANFIS structure: the Fuzzification, rules, normalization, consequent, and addition.
Future advancements
As for the future advancements of solar, there would be this thing called the semi-transparent solar cells, also known as the window of the future. Since windows have been present for centuries, even going as far as being a critical part of the architecture, why not allow them to generate electricity as well?
With this type of solar cell, scientists have been trying to find this perfect balance between high electrical efficiency and height AVT so that your window would absorb so much power light that you could not see outside but also absorb so little light just to let light in the building.