Scientists Develop New Solar Panel Capable of Generating Renewable Energy on a Smartphone Screen

Scientists Design New Transparent Solar Cells Using Thin Silicon Films, With Efficient Renewable Energy Generation on Smartphone Screens

The novelty of today’s renewable energy may even sound somewhat contradictory, but it certainly promises many benefits: a team of scientists from two Korean universities has developed solar power panels that can even work on a smartphone screen.

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 Dry and Wet Solar Cells – Understanding

Conventional solar cells can be of the “wet type” (solution-based) or the “dry type” (made from metal oxide semiconductors). Among these, dry renewable energy cells have a slight advantage over wet cells: they are more reliable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective.

Moreover, metal oxides are suitable for utilizing ultraviolet light. Despite all this, however, the potential of metal oxide TPVs has not been fully explored until now.

The New Discovery by Scientists in the World of Renewable Energy

For this purpose, researchers from Incheon National University, Republic of Korea, created an innovative design for a metal oxide-based TPV smartphone. They inserted an ultrathin layer of silicon (Si) between two transparent metal oxide semiconductors, aiming to develop an efficient solar-powered smartphone.

These findings were published in a study in Nano Energy, which was made available online on August 10, 2020 (before the final publication scheduled for the December 2020 issue). Professor Joondong Kim, who led the solar energy study, explains: “Our goal in the world of renewable energy was to develop a high-power transparent solar cell, incorporating an ultrathin amorphous Si film between zinc oxide and nickel oxide in a smartphone.”

This new design consisting of the Si film had three main advantages. First, it allowed the use of longer wavelength light (as opposed to bare smartphones).

Second, it resulted in efficient photon collection in smartphones. Third, it enabled faster transport of charge carriers to the electrodes. Furthermore, the design can potentially generate electricity even in low light conditions (for example, on cloudy or rainy days). The scientists also confirmed the renewable energy generation capability of the smartphone by using it to operate the DC motor of a fan.