Scientists are always looking for ways to make our world a better place, and one of the areas they focus on is solar energy. One idea in this field is to make solar cells more efficient by focusing more sunlight on them.

Investigating this recently, a team of scientists from the Cavendish Laboratory and AMOLF (Amsterdam, Netherlands) discovered that improving the efficiency of solar cells in this way is more difficult than we thought, but they also discovered other ways in which solar energy could be improved. Capturing energy at any point on the planet.

The researchers were interested in learning whether solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity could be tuned to work better in different parts of the world where the concentration of sunlight might be higher. To test this, they used machine learning models and neural networks (AI) to understand how solar radiation would behave at different points on Earth.

They integrated this data into an electronic model to calculate the solar cells’ output. By modeling different scenarios, they were able to predict how much energy solar cells could produce in different parts of the world.

Innovative solutions beyond efficiency

However, their findings were published at: Joule, showed an incredible comeback. “It turns out that making solar cells super-efficient is very difficult. So instead of just trying to improve solar cells, we found other ways to get more solar energy,” said Dr. Tommy Bykey. “This could be very useful for communities by giving them different options to consider, rather than focusing on making cells more efficient with light.”

Imagine solar panels that can bend and fold like origami, or become partially transparent, blending organically with their surroundings and making them easier to install. By increasing the durability and versatility of these panels, they can be integrated into a wide variety of environments and promise durability and performance.

“We are coming up with a different plan so that solar panels can work well in different parts of the world,” Baiki said. “The goal is to make them flexible, somewhat transparent/translucent and foldable, so the panels can be placed wherever desired.”

Additionally, researchers advocate using models of solar capture devices to optimize their location for maximum absorption of sunlight. This approach has the potential to improve the design of solar cells, increasing their efficiency in using solar energy.

“This awareness means that we can now focus on different things rather than just improving the performance of solar cells. In the future, we will investigate ways to harvest sunlight with mosaics. This is like a puzzle model that could help us capture even more solar energy,” concluded Baiki.