Oxford develops game-changing solar power coating

Multinational

OXFORD, August 12, 2024 – Researchers at Oxford University have developed a breakthrough solar power material that can be applied to everyday objects, eliminating the need for silicon-based solar panels, the university announced on Friday.

The thin and flexible light-absorbing material was developed using Oxford’s home-grown technology for stacking multiple light-absorbing layers into one solar cell.

This allows the material to absorb a wider range of the light spectrum, generating more power from the same amount of sunlight.

With an energy efficiency above 27%, the material beats the typical performance of traditional single-layer silicon-based photovoltaics, which have an average efficiency of 22%.

“We believe that, over time, this approach could enable the photovoltaic devices to achieve far greater efficiencies, exceeding 45%,” Shuaifeng Hu, postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University Physics, was quoted as saying.

The technology would greatly expand the reach of solar power generation beyond standard panels.

Photo of Dr Shuaifeng Hu with the thin-film perovskite material courtesy of Oxford University.

Read our latest insights on:

• Multinational

Previous

Chevron celebrates first oil from USA's Anchor field

Next

TotalEnergies delivers first cargo of 100% biofuel bunker