Communicating Science (12w111)

Roof Top Solar Panels
Image Source: http://www.marathonroof.com/?page_id=1715

Have you ever seen houses with solar panels installed on their roof tops? If these panels are really as efficient as they say, what has been holding people back from buying into an investment, that in theory, could shrink your monthly electrical bills? Research has suggested that if all the houses in the United States were to be installed with these solar roof top panels, enough energy would be generated to meet about half of the country’s electricity demands. What are the scientific advances that solar researchers have been able to produce today?

Reasons Solar Panels remain impractical:

Despite the promised benefits of solar panel roof tops, they remain impractical today due to several reasons, such as the high cost of materials used to make these solar panels, which includes exotic metals that are not easily obtainable, as well as fear that current panel designs are too fragile and unsuitable for long term weathering. For these reasons, solar panels are seen as being unable to replace the durability of commonly used roof tiles, therefore leaving many to not consider the investment. With problems such as high cost and inability to face the rigors of acting as roofing, researchers had begun seek an affordable material that can last as long as real roof shingles.

Progress in Solar Technology and Current Achievements:

A company called DOW PowerHouse now has Solar Shingles available in the market. These newly developed shingles act like traditional roofing and are suggested to be able to last the lifetime of your roof. They have been tested to endure wind, rain, snow, hail and fire and earned seven certifications for performance and safety. The cost for these solar shingles is also cheaper in comparison to pervious solar panels, with the company claim that every $1 invested likely to generate about $4 in energy savings. Combined with its easy-to-assemble design, this new technology could mean a successful and dominant future for solar power. However, these shingles are still made with exotic copper indium gallium diselenide, a rare metal controlled by China so therefore is still more costly than conventional materials. Thus research for solar roofing is not yet perfect despite this impressive achievement.

DOW Solar Shingles
Image Source: http://www.gizmag.com/dow-powerhouse-solar-shingles/22309/pictures#3

Other than the DOW Company, there are other solar researchers today who are attempting to use “earth-abundant materials” for solar power generation to reduce the price of these solar devices. These scientists include physicist Harry Atwater and chemist James Stevens, who announced that new solar devices of zinc and copper are breaking records for electrical current and voltage achieved in solar energy devices. It is their goal as researchers in solar devices to find replacements for rare, expensive metals and to increase the electricity generations using solar energy.

Here is a short video where Atwater explains attempts to use gallium arsenide as a material to lower solar cell production costs:

As research in this field further develops and matures, it can only mean the shortening of the distance from achieving affordable and environmental-friendly energy generation systems, for private homes on production for the masses.

Blog post submitted by: Andy Wang