2023-08-23 16:32:17
British scientists have imagined a new concept of more efficient photovoltaic panels. Inspired by nature, the prototype mimics the functioning of tree leaves. The researchers assure that it would capture more energy and might even produce drinking water. Explanations.
You can not stop progress. In June 2023, a new scientific study published in the journal Nature Comunications presented a concept of solar panels, directly inspired by nature. The idea? Imitate the leaves of trees to create a new generation of more efficient photovoltaic panels.
Currently, “on average, commercial photovoltaic panels capture 25% of the sun’s rays”, point out British scientists from Imperial College in London, authors of the study. With their new prototype, called “solar sheets” or “photovoltaic sheets”, the researchers estimate that they are capable of absorbing 38% of the sun’s rays, ie 13 points more than a conventional installation.
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But concretely, how does it work? It involves replacing a large solar panel installed on the roof with “a multitude of small solar panels in the shape of tree leaves”, explains the magazine Futura Sciences. In this way, the ramifications that make up these new models will circulate a liquid around the cells intended to capture solar energy.
Produce electricity and drinking water
The goal? To lower the temperature of these “when they are exposed to direct sunlight”, details the newspaper. Researchers have demonstrated that conventional photovoltaic panels, capable of assimilating and converting only 25% of solar energy into electricity, absorb the rest of the light emitted by the sun in the form of heat. This, in addition to being unusable to heat the building where the solar panel is installed, accelerates the degradation of the latter.
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Ensuring that solar panels are durable over time is not the only use of “solar sheets”. ” In [les] sweating” with a saline solution, the steam generated can be recovered in the form of fresh water, thus producing drinking water”, says Futura Sciences. “Transpiration plays an important role in the water cycle and in the production of fresh water in nature, especially in tropical forest areas,” the scientists argue. In winter, this condensation might be used “for domestic heating or preheating water at home,” adds the media.
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For the moment still at the experimental stage, this process is built from “affordable, easily available and environmentally friendly materials”, assure the researchers. In the future, this model might therefore be “mass-produced and compete economically and ecologically with established technologies”.
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