Professor Kwanyong Seo and his research team at the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST in Korea have developed a new method that can directly charge a battery from the glass of buildings, cars, and mobile devices through transparent solar cells.
An ‘all-back-contact’ (ABC) design that places all the components of the solar cell on the back means that the solar cell is colorless and transparent, along with demonstrating high efficiency. This new method, called Seamless Modularization, eliminates gaps between devices without using metal wires, thus solving the problem of damaging the aesthetics of transparent solar cells (TSCs).
The 16 cm²-sized transparent solar cell module has high efficiency ranging from 20% to 14.7% in transmittance, while maintaining the aesthetics of a single device. It has successfully charged a smartphone using natural sunlight, and has demonstrated the possibility that a screen of a small mobile device could be used as an energy source.
“This study fundamentally solved the aesthetic problem of the existing solar cell modularization method through the design of the new device structure,” said researcher Jeonghwan Park and Research Assistant Professor Kangmin Lee. “It presented the possibility that transparent silicon solar cells can be used in various industries such as small devices as well as buildings and automobile glass.”
The team has plans to continue modularization research, as the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in solar cells – along with unobstructed visibility through transparent solar modules – are essential features for the successful commercialization of transparent silicon solar cells.
“We plan to continue further research so that transparent solar cells can become a key technology in the eco-friendly future energy industry,” stated Seo.