Researchers make transparent solar panels for mobile phones

Scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles have developed a prototype transparent solar panel that should be suitable for mobile devices. In the long term, for example, mobile phones should be able to be charged.

According to the researchers to have the panels have a transparency of almost 70 percent, so that they can function almost as full windows. Photovoltaic plastic is used for production, which converts infrared light into electricity with an efficiency of 4 percent. That is still considerably lower than conventional panels, but the variant developed by Californian scientists is still only a prototype. Efficiency may be increased in the future.

The use of plastic reduces weight and gives solar panel builders a lot of flexibility in production, making the technology very suitable for use in portable devices. In the long run, for example, smartphones and tablets can be charged with sunlight by building a transparent solar cell into the screen. However, the scientists also want to use their panels for windows. Incidentally, Samsung and LG already came up with mobile phones that were fitted with non-transparent solar panels on the back.

Previous attempts to make such solar panels based on plastic have resulted in panels that allow significantly less light to pass through, according to the scientists. Nevertheless, Californian scientists are not the only ones to come up with transparent solar panels. For example, flexible and transparent solar panels based on silicon have been around for several years, but most manufacturers only focus on use in windows.