Solar power engineering is taking new heights as
researchers around the world invent and reinvent methods to harness solar
energy to its best capacity. We see the trend in 3D technology everywhere:
Movie theaters, home theaters, game consoles, 3D printers. Until now, improving
the performance of photovoltaic cells involved only rearranging the layout of
solar panels on a flat surface and bringing down their cost.
But, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology worked on avant-garde 3D designs that would look beyond the
traditional outlook of arranging cells on a flat surface or motorized
structures keeping them pointed towards the sun.
Traditional solar panels lay flat on a surface or
rooftop, facing the sun to collect energy. MIT researchers decided to change
the shape of solar panels, conducting experiments with a cube, tall cube, and
tower-shaped panels to see which design brought in more energy.
Compared to flat panels, all three 3D panels created
impressive results and outproduced traditional panels, with the accordion-style
tower drawing in 20 times more power per square foot. The panels were tested
during both cloudy and sunny conditions, and proved to perform consistently despite
the weather changes.
Researchers also say the tower style panel helps save
space by standing vertically, and the design will be easier to manufacture than
the cubes. However, they do anticipate the designs to be more expensive to
produce than flat panels, but the payoff could be worth the investment.
Manufacturers aim to use thin film technologies to help reduce cost but still
have the panels capable of harvesting energy in low light and cloudy
conditions.
The highly visible differences were noticed in
situations and places that were far from equator, in winter months and on
cloudy days. The team at MIT worked on a variety of configurations, testing
them under a whole range of latitudes, seasons and weather. Every time, the
power generated by these models differed than that of ordinary solar panels.
Even the cost of the 3D models was balanced by the output generated over the
course of a day as well as during days and seasons when traditional panels are
unable to perform their best. Since the 3D models performed consistently on
given day, in any weather condition, they would be easier to integrate with
power grids than conventional systems.
The effectiveness of 3D models is because of the vertical
solar cell surfaces that can collect maximum sunlight even during mornings,
evenings, winters and when the sun is closer to the horizon.
According to Jeffrey Grossman, the Carl Richard
Soderberg Career Development Associate Professor of Power Engineering at MIT,
this concept could change the future of photovoltaics. It is the right time to
delve in such innovations as solar panels cost is becoming less expensive than
accompanying support structures like wiring and installation. As the cost
continues to decline, the advantages of 3D models will improve accordingly.
The MIT study states that making these improvements
can help power output become “more predictable and uniform, which could make
integration with the power grid easier than with conventional systems.” With
the accordion tower design, the panels could be shipped in a flat folded state,
and restructured to its zig zag shape at the installation site. Researchers
imagine these towers to be perfect for parking lots to help electric vehicles
find their green charging stations.
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