Nano technology allows graphene coatings to adhere to solar panels surface at a molecular level creating a layer of protection against weather elements.
Graphene for solar panel.
Graphene has been developed as a non reflective coating for solar cells so the application of graphene to solar panels is not new news.
The conductive indium tin oxide ito is used with a non conductive glass layer as the transparent electrodes in most organic solar panels to achieve these goals but ito is rare brittle and makes solar panels expensive.
The research done by the chinese team shows promise as a proof of concept but they were only able to achieve about a 6 5 efficiency in the rain compared to the typical average 20 25 efficiency that most solar panels can get in full sun conditions.
The addition of microscopically thin graphene layers to solar panels is a wonderful innovation but there are still years of research ahead.
Graphene oxide go for example is less conductive but more transparent and a better charge collector which can be useful for solar panels.
Moreover they envisioned a new manufacturing method that thanks to the versatility of graphene allows to reduce production costs and could lead to the production of large area solar panels.
An ultra thin graphene layer could help protect next gen solar panels by luke dormehl july 7 2020 graphene the wonder material composed of a single layer of graphene atoms arranged in a.