Sistine Solar, a startup based at MIT's Sloan School of Management, has decided to make solar panels more attractive. They have developed SolarSkin photocells that can simulate any surface: a building facade, a roof pattern or a lawn in front of a house, and even company logos and advertising images. Moreover, the additional "aesthetic" load, scientists say, will not affect the efficiency of the battery itself.
The authors hope the innovation will attract homeowners who would like to install solar panels on their roofs, but are hesitant due to the unattractive look of traditional panels. Until recently, the scientific community did not care about the appearance of solar modules; just last fall, Tesla unveiled a new product - the "solar roof", similar to the usual shingles.
The SolarSkin technology uses a special layer that suppresses part of the light flux for image transmission, and transfers the other part to the photocells lying below. The advertising film, which is glued over the windows of public transport, works in a similar way: thanks to the reflected sunlight, the picture is visible from the street side. But part of the light energy penetrates into the passenger compartment due to perforation, as a result of which passengers can see what is happening on the street.
The SolarSkin installation costs about 10% more than conventional panels, but MIT scientists estimate that over the lifetime of the solar cell, homeowners who finally decide to install can save more than $ 30,000.
