New solar panels take on colorful hues while producing energy nearly as efficiently as traditional ones. These days some buildings even have these power-generating structures all over their facades. The usual black panels are less appealing than colorful panels would be. A thin layer of a material called a photonic glass was sprayed onto the surfaces of solar cells. The glass was made of a thin, disorderly layer of dielectric microscopic zinc sulfide spheres. Although most light could pass through the photonic glass, selective colors were reflected back based on the sizes of the spheres. This way the researchers created solar panels that took on blue, green and purple hues while only dropping the efficiency of power generation from 22.6% to 21.5%.
Story Source: American Chemical Society
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220815123401.htm
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