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With the technology that we have now, researchers, scientists, and engineers are continually doing solar energy research and making developments and new technology that would help us use and harness the cleanest and most renewable energy: the sun.
With the latest advancements and awareness that were brought to our attention, it is no surprise that there are a lot of people who are seeking solar technology like solar panels. Solar companies like Cali Solar, a solar contractor serving Californians, are here to provide you with all of your solar needs. So, what is new in solar energy research in California?
What are the Newest Developments in Solar Energy in California?
1. Floating Photovoltaic Solar Panels
There are a lot of large bodies of water like lakes and reservoirs that are widely available in certain places, and they would have to be one of the largest available surface areas and have great potential for solar energy production.
When you are using floating photovoltaic solar panels, you would be able to produce so much energy without having to take up all of this valuable land.
Water would also be able to increase electricity production by up to 10 percent because of the cooling effect that the water under the solar panels could give.
2. Solar Lighting
With the advancement of technology, we have solar-powered LED lights that could be found scattered all over the continental United States. This would be beneficial to places that are way off the grid, and it also helped that it could last at least 25 years.
With solar lighting, it would be able to really improve the battery function and electronics of our latest technology.
There is a backup system for some of these solar lighting that would be functional for a few days, and it is customizable depending on where you are located and for public safety.
3. Building Integrated Photovoltaics
As the architectural world evolves into a more modern one, there have been so many buildings and homes that have all of these available spaces and surfaces where it would be perfect for solar energy contribution.
If you use building-integrated photovoltaics and integrate it to the aesthetic appeal of your infrastructure, not only would it look sleek, modern, and aesthetic, but it would also be able to help in the increased use of solar energy.
There are a lot of customizable solar panels that you could add to your building, including terraces and canopies.
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What are Some New Research Improvements and Innovations in Solar Energy?
1. Solar Windows
Scientists all around the world are working on trying to make solar windows. There are actually some scientists in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that we’re able to make windows that would be able to transform the windows to a tinted state, where it would be able to convert the sunlight that the window captures into electricity.
Compared to solar panels, solar windows would not be as efficient because the windows are at least partly transparent to let more light into the infrastructure since that is what the window is for in the first place. But it would help save you money since it would still be able to produce electricity.
2. Solar Roads
What if the future of solar transportation does not actually have to be the card itself? What if it is actually the roads? There are a handful of countries that are launching their solar road initiative.
There was a solar road project in Sandpoint, Idaho last 2016 where they believe that if you cover 48,000 square miles with solar panels, it would be able to produce more power 3 times more than what our country uses.
You would ballot to drastically cut down the emission of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and use it to help filter stormwater, help light up the roads, melt snow, and replace above-ground power cables.
Aside from national roads, you could also use their panels used for solar roads for your walkways, parking lots, and driveways, effectively integrating the solar panels into your architectural aesthetic while benefiting from the additional electricity.
3. Solar Cars
There are a lot of engineers who are trying to design cars that are solar-powered because cars would have to be one of the biggest contributors to carbon dioxide in the ozone since the annual distance humans travel that makes use of fossil fuels is about 9.5 trillion kilometers, which means there is a lot of fossil field being burned.
The biggest concern engineers have when they are designing solar-powered cars that would solely be running on solar power and have 0 emissions, is making sure of the low performance of the vehicle.
There have been a few debates about it online on whether this is a realistic possibility, especially for public use, but that is not stopping engineers from trying.
4. Solar Paint
There is new research happening about solar paint, where you would apply this paint to a surface that would be able to capture some solar energy directly from the sun.
The paint is made out of billions of light-sensitive materials that would allow it to capture solar energy. It could reduce the cost of having to spend a lot of money on solar panel installation because you would only need a technician to paint the area for you.
There is only about 3 percent to 8 percent efficiency in solar paint, that is why it is still not available for public use, because that is not enough.
Some experts say that the solar paint would be able to be out on the market in the next five years because it needs to increase the efficiency of the solar paint since a traditional solar panel has 18 percent efficiency.
What are the Key Areas of Solar Research Today?
Right now, there are about 5 main categories when we are talking about solar research today: photovoltaics, system integrations, manufacturing and competitiveness, soft costs, and concentrating solar-thermal power. There are currently talks and research in the solar field today.
In today’s solar research field, they are looking for ways to get photovoltaics at a lower cost while making sure it has higher efficiency. They are trying to help in making the system integration advance and become more reliable, secure, affordable, and resilient.
They also put focus on the non-hardware cost of the components of your solar energy system, improve your solar system’s performance and improve the lifetime of your panels, and address the competitiveness of manufacturing solar power.
