20% Efficiency gain through Printing Blu-Ray Disc Patterns on Solar Panels

Northwestern University News | —

Megan Fellman writes: “An interdisciplinary research team [from Northwestern University] has discovered that the pattern of information written on a Blu-ray disc — and it doesn’t matter if it’s Jackie Chan’s “Supercop” or the cartoon “Family Guy” — works very well for improving light absorption across the solar spectrum. And better yet, the researchers know why.

“We had a hunch that Blu-ray discs might work for improving solar cells, and, to our delight, we found the existing patterns are already very good,” said Jiaxing Huang, a materials chemist and an associate professor of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science…

Blu-ray discs contain a higher density of data than DVDs or CDs, and it is this quasi-random pattern, perfected by engineers over decades for data storage, that, when transferred to the surface of solar cells, provides the right texture to improve the cells’ light absorption and performance.

– See more at: Northweseern News

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