Eco Factor: Polymer film allows solar panels to generate more energy.
Aiming to better the efficiency of solar panels, a small startup company called Genie Lens Technologies has developed a polymer film that can be attached to the surface of solar panels to better their efficiency. The company claims that the efficiency can be boosted by 10 percent by just applying a transparent sticker to the front.
The sticker, dubbed Fusion, is actually a polymer film embossed with microstructures that bend incoming light. The film allows the active materials in solar panels to absorb more light and convert more of it into electricity. The panels are cheap and could lower the cost per watt of solar power.
The thin film traps light inside the semiconductor materials that generate electricity from incident sunlight. The film also redirects incoming light so that it travels along the surface of the material, increasing the chances of it being absorbed. Tests at NREL have proved that the film increases power output on average between 4 percent and 12.5 percent.
Via: Technology Review
