Saw this article today
http://mobile.extremetech.com/lates...-a-power-source?origref=http://m.facebook.com
Fully Transparent Solar Pnels
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Saw this article today
http://mobile.extremetech.com/lates...-a-power-source?origref=http://m.facebook.com
LeeRevell
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I have long thought all new-build Government and industrial buildings should include solar in their designs, to reduce grid usage. My old building was all glass. That clear solar panel would be perfect!
And with my van's largish windows it would help too, though not a great angle. Could be good for early morning and later afternoon, depending on how I parked!
And with my van's largish windows it would help too, though not a great angle. Could be good for early morning and later afternoon, depending on how I parked!
Almost There
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Ummm, only one drawback - you'd have to have an RV the size of a high rise office building.
Their collection efficiency right now is 1% and they're hoping to raise that to 5%.
Can you even power your cell phone with that low a collection rate?
It may make a dent in the electrical needs for an office tower depending on the effect that shadows have on the collection rate.
Wonder what effect it would have on their new panels when you put the little spots on them to make the panel visible to the birds so millions of them don't die from crashing into the glass as they are now in the cities.
Their collection efficiency right now is 1% and they're hoping to raise that to 5%.
Can you even power your cell phone with that low a collection rate?
It may make a dent in the electrical needs for an office tower depending on the effect that shadows have on the collection rate.
Wonder what effect it would have on their new panels when you put the little spots on them to make the panel visible to the birds so millions of them don't die from crashing into the glass as they are now in the cities.
anewbiewannabe
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I caught that article too. Wouldn't that be great! I hope they perservere with it so that it becomes more efficient, actually takes off, and eventually becomes affordable to the masses. We really do need an alternative power revolution. Cali could slow evaporation down in its, can't find the right word, canals(?) and create a lot of energy with solar panels over the top like some places are now doing in parking lots---those probably would need to not be transparent though.
I agree about the government buildings---if they are spending the money on new buildings why not incorporate some of the newer technologies to make them greener. Projects like that are being done in other countries already so we know it's possible. Some of the smaller cities and towns in some states have actually incorporated greener systems too.
As for the birds, I always have a male cardinal that bangs its head into my one window---just one particular window out of many and it's hard to get to. Not sure if it's a different one every year or what since I haven't found, uhm, evidence. They like to sit on the window edge of the car and look into my rearview mirrors too. Have tried different things over the years at different houses to get the birds to stop flying into the windows but some of them never learned. It's not like the windows are so clean, like in the commercials, that it looks like there's no glass. I wonder what the answer is for the birds? Hope somebody figures out a solution.
I hope they perservere with it so that it becomes more efficient, actually takes off, and eventually becomes affordable to the masses. We really do need an alternative power revolution. Cali could slow evaporation down in its, can't find the right word, canals(?) and create a lot of energy with solar panels over the top like some places are now doing in parking lots---those probably would need to not be transparent though.I agree about the government buildings---if they are spending the money on new buildings why not incorporate some of the newer technologies to make them greener. Projects like that are being done in other countries already so we know it's possible. Some of the smaller cities and towns in some states have actually incorporated greener systems too.
As for the birds, I always have a male cardinal that bangs its head into my one window---just one particular window out of many and it's hard to get to. Not sure if it's a different one every year or what since I haven't found, uhm, evidence. They like to sit on the window edge of the car and look into my rearview mirrors too. Have tried different things over the years at different houses to get the birds to stop flying into the windows but some of them never learned. It's not like the windows are so clean, like in the commercials, that it looks like there's no glass.
I wonder what the answer is for the birds? Hope somebody figures out a solution.
MikeRuth
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I'm with almostthere, the efficiency has to go up first. maybe they will figure a way to get them up to say 15%ish then this might be doable.
As for a small device, I'm thinking it's not gonna happen.
As for a small device, I'm thinking it's not gonna happen.
Optimistic Paranoid
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Wonder if they still work if you stack multiple pieces together. If you stacked 10 pieces together, would you get 10 times the output?
Could you put these over regular cells to increase the output?
Regards
John
Could you put these over regular cells to increase the output?
Regards
John
Almost There
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anewbiewannabe said:
They already have the solution and some cities have mandated it for all new construction. The problem is that there are so many buildings built before the new construction codes that still have the old glass.
The glass is impregnated with little round dots (I think they're dots, maybe diamonds...lol) that are invisible to the human eye from the inside but birds see it differently from the outside and so don't smash into the glass.
It's a real problem in places like Toronto, so much so that a volunteer group are out every morning rescuing birds that have stunned themselves by flying into the glass. The ones that are alive are sent to a bird wildlife rescue place, rehabbed and returned to the wild. One of the problems in Toronto is it happens to be right smack dab in the middle of a major migratory flyway.
Even where it's not a migratory route it's a major problem all over the world. Some estimate the death by glass to be somewhere in the millions in North America alone.
