Renewable energy sources are definitely the future of the energy market. Maybe not alone because what would happen if there was no wind or plenty of cloudy days. Nevertheless, plenty of countries starts to build more and more solar panels or wind turbines. Parts of this technology are even available for causal bread eaters, such as solar panels. Recently people started building them on top of their roofs. Unfortunately, this solution is not perfect. It works quite well for small households but is not able to support the whole city. The solution to such a problem would be solar panels deployable at every surface.
A team of scientists from the University of Alberta tried to develop new technology in the energy industry, spray-on solar panels. They are made from nanoparticles, consisting of two elements; zinc and phosphorous, that are able to absorb light and conduct electricity. Such a solution allows to dissolve it and form a liquid that is able to be sprayed-on or roll-to-roll printed.
What can people get out of this? First of all, it is much more affordable, one of the most expensive components, silicone, can be replaced with much cheaper plastic. On top of that costs of installation are way smaller. Besides the more approachable price, this solution has a number of other benefits. It can be used more often than normal solar panels. For example, electric cars could be coated with such “paint” which would make them much more energy-efficient as they would charge more during the ride. The same thing goes with our smartphones, no more need for power banks, or at least not that often.
In conclusion, renewable energy sources are the future of humanity to stop climate change. However, it is still very expensive and not that efficient. The solutions to this problem would be deployable on every surface solar panel that we could coat our cars, smartphones and plenty of other things. It is worth both for our wallets and nature.
bibliography:
https://justenergy.com/blog/need-energy-spray-it-on-with-new-spray-on-solar-technology/ accessed 20.01.2022 14:00
This is very interesting and I am all for different alternatives to traditional solar panels as they have been notoriously challenging to dispose of. However, it would be interesting to find out what ramifications this product would have on the environment given that it is a spray-on material that can potentially harm the atmosphere.
It sounds like a great invention and I think I Even saw a documentary on it some time ago but I do have some questions after reading this article, how durable is it ? can it be scratched off like paint? since it consists of phosphorus isn’t it slightly harmful to the environment? Anyway, I still think it’s a good invention and the way you wrote about it was also very good. Maybe you could have added a photo of how it looks.