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While the Western world is turning it attention to solar energy as one of the cheapest sources of energy African countries with abundant sun shine are still looking elsewhere for energy generation.
There are great advantages Africa can harness with the inclusion of solar energy in it power generation strategy.
In the out gone year, electric generating facilities in the U.S were expected to add more than 26 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale generating capacity to the power grid during 2016. Most of these additions come from three resources: solar (9.5 GW), natural gas (8.0 GW), and wind (6.8 GW), which together make up 93% of total additions. If actual additions ultimately reflect these plans, 2016 will be the first year in which utility-scale solar additions exceed additions from any other single energy source.
The future of solar energy in the
U.S. has largely been a vision of panels on every roof and silver fields of
solar farms. But what about other surfaces, like windows?
Window pane solar panels don’t have
a large presence in the solar energy market. But with massive metropolises
boasting skyscrapers with thousands of windows each—let alone the half-dozen
windows in each home—why hasn’t this option taken hold?
The reason boils down to the way
solar panels capture energy. Most solar cells are photovoltaic, so they collect
energy by absorbing light and then excite electrons to a conductive state.
Opaque panels are able to trap more sunlight to convert into energy than a
transparent one can—for a few reasons, but if light is brightening a room, it
can’t also be used for power generation.
Michigan State University
researchers made a splash in the green energy world in 2014 when they announced
their transparent solar panels—the first ones created—but critics pointed out
the panels were only 1 percent efficient, whereas an opaque solar panel is
closer to 20 percent efficiency, according to the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers.
Since then, just a handful of
companies have started selling solar panel windows because of the low
efficiency and slow commercial adoption. Meanwhile, rooftop solar panels have
made a small, but growing dent in commercial markets, with 1 million homes
estimated to have solar panels as of 2016, according to Business Insider.
Solar Window uses a liquid
photovoltaic conductor that can be painted onto existing windows of a
skyscraper—going for energy reduction en mass, rather than focusing on the
efficiency of each individual device.
“Conventional solar systems cannot
be applied in this way, and are instead limited to only a handful of square
feet on congested rooftops. These very small tower rooftops are often crowded
with service systems such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and
elevators,” the company website states.
Ubiquitous Energy uses a similar
strategy, applying a solar panel film onto windows that allow 90 percent of
visible light to stream past. Its solar panel film absorbs energy from
ultraviolet and and infrared light and converts that into energy.
According to the company’s website,
it is in a pilot production phase and hasn’t reached commercial markets yet.
While it may take a while before
your home can get decked out with energy-producing windows, the technology is
most likely on its way. And this tool may even be able to be adapted so you can
install self-changing glass on your phone, which might be the reason this
suddenly becomes popular.
Read more: The vice channel
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