Graphene For Solar Panel

Enhancing solar panels with hydrophobic properties is arguably the top benefit of graphene coatings.

Graphene for solar panel.

The addition of microscopically thin graphene layers to solar panels is a wonderful innovation but there are still years of research ahead. The research done by the chinese team shows promise as a proof of concept but they were only able to achieve about a 6 5 efficiency in the rain compared to the typical average 20 25 efficiency that most solar panels can get in full sun conditions. Nano technology allows graphene coatings to adhere to solar panels surface at a molecular level creating a layer of protection against weather elements. Since scientists and researchers are stretching graphene s performance to actively collecting energy from rainwater they were able to produce hundreds of microvolts from the water and reach 6 53 percent solar to electricity ratio efficiency from the solar panel.

Other types of treatments cannot prevent water spots formation as graphene does. The conductive indium tin oxide ito is used with a non conductive glass layer as the transparent electrodes in most organic solar panels to achieve these goals but ito is rare brittle and makes solar panels expensive. Graphene has been developed as a non reflective coating for solar cells so the application of graphene to solar panels is not new news.