New technique and technologie to produce solar energy

Chemical engineers at Oregon State University have invented a new technology to deposit “nanostructure films” on various surfaces, which may first find use as coatings for eyeglasses that cost less and work better.

The same technique is applicable to solar panels…. That’s where is the interest in this technology. But how does it work?

Theese are a  tiny films which coats a surface of the sunglasses or solar panels. These films, which resemble millions of tiny pyramids, reduce the reflectance of any light that strikes the material. See the picture.

For solar panels, this means that more of the sun’s light reaches the surface of the panels and is not just reflected back into space, so more photons can be captured and turned into electricity.

The key to the process is use of a chemical bath, controlled by a microreactor, to place thin-film deposits on various substrates such as glass, plastic, silicon or aluminum. In this case, the technology will create a type of nanostructure that resembles millions of tiny pyramids in a small space, which function to reduce the reflectance of any light that strikes the material

Source: Oregon State University