Here’s another good example of green design. While you need full direct sun to generate power with normal solar cells, a new type of solar cell developed by GreenSun Energy in Jerusalem is able to generate power from diffused light (on cloudy days, or shade). Through the use of a specialized colored panel made with flourescent dyes and nanoparticle metals, the panel diffuses and concentrates the light to the edges, where the silicon collects the energy. Silicon, being expensive, is conserved with these panels, and due to less silicon, the cells an be produced for about $2.10 a watt, compared to $4.54/W for conventional panels. They achieve a 12% efficiency rate, and while normal cells lose energy due to heat, the colored cells diffuse the sunlight over the whole panel, and less efficiciency is lost to heat. This is an interesting thought for summertime roof panels – I have always been curious if the heat they generate can contribute to the heating up the house. If these colored solar cells reduce heat, they might help keep houses cooler in the summertime. Of course, they would also not "heat" the house in the winter time.

Another advantage I see to these cells is that they can likely start designing solar panels to match building structures or rooftops, so that they are less obvious in architecture. So we could install panels on top of our roof and they would nearly match, or can be designed to compliment the roof, and everyone’s happy.

While 12% efficiency is good, the most efficient solar cell is 43%, so GreenSun is working to raise the efficiency to 20% and reduce the cost to .94¢ a watt. Let’s keep an eye on this interesting new design – it could reshape the solar panel industry forever!

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