Sferilised päikesepaneelid pakuvad uut viisi efektiivseks päikeseenergia kogumiseks

Saudi scientists conducted a series of experiments with solar cells in the shape of a small sphere. The round shape of the photovoltaic converter allows for better capture of reflected and scattered sunlight. While this may not be a wise solution for industrial solar farms, spherical solar cells could prove to be a true breakthrough for a number of applications.

A group of researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has expanded their work on creating solar panels with varying degrees of surface curvature through new research. In particular, they collected a spherical solar cell the size of a tennis ball and conducted numerous experiments with it. This was made possible by the ‘corrugation’ technology of flat solar panels, which involves using a laser to create grooves in the silicon substrate, allowing for safe bending of the panels.

A comparison of the performance of flat and spherical cells of the same area under artificial sunlight conditions showed that under direct lighting, the spherical solar cell provides 24% greater output power compared to traditional flat solar cells. After heating by 'sun rays', the advantage of the round cell increases to 39%. This is because heating reduces the efficiency of the panels, and the spherical shape dissipates heat into the space better and suffers less from heating (maintaining a high efficiency value for longer).

If both round and flat solar cells collected only scattered light, the output power from the round cell was 60% greater than that from the flat one. Furthermore, a properly selected reflective background, with which scientists experimented using various natural and artificial reflector materials, allowed the spherical solar cell in terms of energy production to exceed that of the flat cell by 100%.

Teadlaste arvates võivad sfäärilised päikesepaneelid edendada asjade Interneti ja muud iseseisvad elektroonikaseadmed. Koos võivad nad osutuda odavamaks kui lamepäikesepaneelide kasutamine. Ümmargused päikesepaneelid ei vaja päikese jälgimise süsteeme. Samuti võivad need olla paremad siseruumides kasutamiseks.

Järgmisel uurimisetapil kavatsevad teadlased testida ümmarguste päikesepaneelide efektiivsust erinevates maailma nurkades, laiendades võimalike valgustingimuste spektrit. Samuti loodavad nad luua suure pindalaga sfäärilisi päikesepaneele, mis ulatuvad 9 kuni 90 m². Lõpuks kavatsevad teadlased uurida teisi kumerate pinnakujude variante, lootes leida ideaalne lahendus spetsiifiliste rakenduste jaoks.

Allikas: 3dnews.ru