A team of Australian researchers and Australian glass manufacturer Viridian Glass, are currently exploring the commercial potential of novel solar cells that can be incorporated into window glass.
The technology, published in the journal Nano Energy, utilises next generation perovskites solar cells that generate electricity while being semi-transparent.
The cells have a conversion efficiency of 17 per cent, which is comparable to that of rooftop solar panels (15-20 per cent), while they still transmit more than 10 per cent of the incoming light.
This could be used for solar windows, of which around two square metres could then potentially generate as much electricity as a standard rooftop solar panel.
The researchers from Monash University, CSIRO and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, produced the new cells with an organic semiconductor VNPB that can be made into a polymer. This material is replacing the commonly used solar cell component Spiro-OMeTAD, which the researchers found to dramatically increase their long-term stability.
This overcomes a major problem of low stability previously encountered with semi-transparent solar cells.
The electricity the solar cells can be made less or more transparent, but this then also effects the output in electricity.
The cells can also produced to suit different purposes. However, the more transparent they are, the less electricity they generate. It is something architects will need to consider, says project leader Professor Jacek Jasieniak from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (Exciton Science) at Monash University.
The research, which was supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), now focuses on developing a large-scale manufacturing process for products used by the building industry.