Scientists Unveil Underwater Solar Panels
Far out, literally. The post Scientists Unveil Underwater Solar Panels appeared first on Futurism .
China's green energy surge has led to solar panels being installed on mountain sides, floating platforms, and even highways. Now, researchers have achieved a breakthrough by generating electricity underwater. According to EuroNews, scientists near Weizhou Island in China's southwestern coast successfully produced power from sunlight at a depth of 10 meters, breaking the previous record for photovoltaic research.
Their study, published in the journal Joule, describes a novel solar panel design utilizing perovskite materials, a calcium titanium oxide mineral. This innovative approach allows the panels to harness the specific blue and green light wavelengths that can penetrate the ocean's surface. The peak power conversion efficiency of the panels reached nearly 35 percent, which is in line with recent advancements in solar cell efficiency and surpasses the traditional Shockley-Queisser limit of around 33 percent.
Although the results were obtained in simulated conditions, the test lasted for only two hours, yielding 324 milliwatt-hours of energy, enough to power a small LED light for a few hours. However, even this modest output surpassed the team's expectations. The study's lead author, Yunnan University professor of material science Wen-Hua Zhang, stated that this work "presents the first functional validation of submerged solar cells operating at water depths of up to about 10 meters, significantly expanding their potential applications."
While commercial applications of this research are still years away, the study could pave the way for solar panels functioning in less frequented ocean regions.
Written by urgent.news from Futurism's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
