Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered, developed, and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new anti-reflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels by 96% efficiency AND allowing those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.

Solar panels convert the most light into electricity when the sun shines directly on them. Untreated silicon solar cells absorb only 67.4% of sunlight and as soon as it wanes, so does efficiency. Meaning that nearly one-third (at peak) of that sunlight is reflected away and thus unharvestable.

Typical anti-reflective coatings are engineered to transmit light of one particular wavelength. Lead researcher Shawn-Yu Lin says the new coating stacks seven of these layers, one on top of the other, in such a way that each layer enhances the anti-reflective properties of the layer below it. These additional layers also help to “bend” the flow of sunlight to an angle that augments the coating’s anti-reflective properties. This means that each layer not only transmits sunlight, it also helps to capture any light that may have otherwise been reflected off of the layers below. The seven layers of film consists of nanoscopic silicon and titanium-oxide rods arranged in increasing densities, with the topmost nearly as porous as air. This funnel-like setup captures light from almost every direction and focuses it onto the photovoltaic panel while also inhibiting reflection.

The film, which is about one hundredth as thick as a human hair, could easily be applied to any solar panel, and would help collect 20% more light while eliminating the need for the expensive hardware usually needed to rotate solar panels as the sun moves. Before Lin can sell the film, he must find a way to protect the outermost layers from the wind and heat, a process that he says may take another year.

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Tags: Anti-reflective coating, black hole, electricity, energy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, solar cell, solar energy, sun

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