Transparent solar cell

Image from Michigan State University

Ubiquitous Energy is a technology company developing transparent photovoltaics. These devices would eliminate the limitations of the battery life of mobile devices, and would provide "smart" glass for buildings.

The "first truly transparent solar technology" is described on the company's website:

“Implemented as a fully transparent film that covers a device's display area, ClearView Power™ technology transmits light visible to the human eye, while selectively capturing and converting ultraviolet and near-infrared light into electricity to power the device and extend its battery life.”

Company website: http://ubiquitous.energy/

On the home page, viewers can choose "Learn more" or "Watch video." The video (4:03), from Bloomberg Business, focuses on the many uses of such solar technology. In particular, having transparent solar cells would mean that they could be used as windows in office buildings and skyscrapers in cities - where there is not enough space for conventional solar technology. There is also further explanation of how the technology works, and how the company innovated a truly transparent cell.

Choosing the "Learn more" option brings you to the Technology section, which explains the features of the device in more detail - which is probably of the most interest to engineering students. This was the information my students wanted to read, since they found the idea of a completely transparent solar cell to be extremely interesting.

In the News section of the website there are a variety of articles about the company's technology and applications for it. Articles are added often, so the choices are always up to date.

The sections of the website, with their subsections, are:

• About (Ubiquitous Energy, Team, News)
• Applications (Mobile, Internet of Things, Smart Glass)
• Technology
• Careers
• Contact

There seems to be a lot of material here for lessons, and I intend to keep checking this website for ideas I can use next semester (plan ahead for September!).

There are also some interesting articles about this new technology. For example:

From Factor magazine -
http://factor-tech.com/green-energy/7287-transparent-solar-collector-to-turn-skyscrapers-into-power-plants/

From ExtremeTech -
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188667-a-fully-transparent-solar-cell-that-could-make-every-window-and-screen-a-power-source