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Efficiency problems plague today's solar panels, which can only collect about 20% of the available light. Now, engineers at the University of Missouri have developed a flexible solar panel that can capture more than 90% of available light. They plan to build prototypes for consumers in the next five years.
Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Missouri, said that energy generation using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods for solar energy collection is inefficient, ignoring the many available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectra. This device, which his team has developed and is actually very thin, is a plastic, sheet-like miniature antenna called a nano antenna (nantenna) that collects heat and converts it into useful electricity using industrial processes. Their goal is to expand this concept to form a direct solar facing nanoantenna so that it can collect solar radiation and collect near-infrared and optical ranges of the solar spectrum.
Pincio’s research work was conducted with his previous team. They conducted research at the Idaho National Laboratory. Garrett Moddel was the University of Colorado. ) Professor of Electronic Engineering, Pincio and his team have now developed a way to generate electricity by using the collected heat and sunlight, using special high-speed circuits. The team also teamed up with Dennis Slafer of MicroContinuum, which is in Cambridge, Mass., and they can quickly upgrade their lab technology to manufacturing. Equipment can be mass produced inexpensively.
"Our overall goal is to collect and use as much solar energy as possible. As long as it is theoretically possible, we must push it to the commercial market and provide it to everyone with a cheap package," Pincio said. "If successful, this product will enable us to lead a few orders of magnitude beyond the current solar technology, which is our existing technology today."
As part of the deployment plan, this group's security fund comes from the US Department of Energy and private investors. The second phase features an energy harvesting device for existing industrial infrastructure, including heat treatment plants and solar farms.
The research team believes that within five years they will have a product that complements traditional photovoltaic solar panels. Because this is a flexible film, Pincio believes that it can be integrated into roof tile products or customized products to drive cars.
Once funding is in place, Pincio will plan a number of commercial derivatives, including infrared (IR) testing. These products include improved contraband detection products for airports and military, optical computing, and infrared line-of-sight telecommunications.
The results of this design and manufacturing process were published in the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering.
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