Solar Energy ArticlesSolar Panels - Tweaks to Make Them Work Better The issue with the systems that employ the solar panels has always been the efficiency with which they convert sunlight successfully into electricity. On the other hand, we can say that we can consider the solar panels’ non-popularity in spite of being one of the best inventions ever because of the issues in the throughput and sunlight conversion rates. In this article, we are going to see some tweaks that can be deployed in order to make the solar panels deliver the best of what they are made up of. Recent research at Genie Lens Technologies has revealed that throughput of the existing solar systems can be increased to a degree of ten per cent by pasting a transparent sticker on to the top of the solar panels which are responsible for capturing the sunlight. This sticker, as mysterious as it sounds is actually a polymer film that is embossed with microstructures that can bend the sunlight. This capability of these stickers tends to make them focus sunlight on to one certain point in the solar panel which can concentrate solar energy. As a result of all the action, the end thing that is achieved is that the solar panels become more absorbent to the light (photons), cater more response and also convert more of light energy into the electricity. This technology is the cheapest of all the tweaks that research has witnessed. It is really a wonder that the micro stickers made up of the polymers can be of such a rescue to the efficiency factor of solar panels. This brings into the consideration the cost that is incurred. The cost of solar panel output per watt decreases significantly. There are some scientific reasons that should be stated behind this performance tweak of the solar panel. The main thing that this pasted form of transparent polymer is capable of doing is that the light from the sun is prevented from reflection off the surface of the solar panels. This saves in or rather traps most of the photons inside the photovoltaic systems. As a result, the trapped photons are readily available to convert visible light into electricity. The second most important thing here is that the sticker developed by Genie Lens Technology is redirected making it pass through the surface of the semiconductor material. Hence more photons are available to be incident on to the semiconductor layer per unit area. As light travels along the surface of the semiconductor material, there is a greater probability that it shall be absorbed conveniently and with ease into the semiconductor material to knock off an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. The design and engineering that has led to the invention of this polymer sticker is unquestionable. This engineering is based upon purely the computations that are provided by the algorithms that can model how the rays of the sun bend and behave as soon as they are refracted by the polymer material and enter the surface of semiconductor. The test results of this product tweak is impeccable. They reveal that there has been a sharp rise in the efficiency that is offered by this product by 10 to 12 percent. A variety of test conditions had been deployed in the same. This includes testing when the conditions are very much cloudy rendering low level of light being offered to the solar panels. Even diffusion was considered during testing. Although there is a significant amount of rise that is witnessed by the solar panels in their efficiency, the cost of production is expected to rise. But surprisingly, the cost of production does not increase much beyond 1% which makes it a foolproof tweak to improve the performance. Related articles
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