New Solar Material Enables Walls to Provide Energy

Following the trend of green revolutionary concepts, experts have scaled up efforts to introduce new materials, like black silicon or solar paint, whose results look good on paper, but their actual level of efficiency proved outside the labs is still far from making them truly competitive with traditional sources of energy.

Even in this context, in a sector undermined by skepticism, there is still room for improvements and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation appears to take advantage of this fact to present his innovative material, converting common walls into highly efficient energy generators.

According to CleanTechnica, the company has developed and tested a new building product that can be applied on walls to harness clean green power coming from the sun.

If the material were commercialized on a large scale, it would become much more popular than conventional PV panels, installed on rooftops or placed strategically in solar arrays.

In this case, large buildings exploiting the concept, brought under the spotlight by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, could be considered a trust-worthy game-changer, generating as much eco-friendly energy as a giant solar power plant.

Apparently, the system can offer up to 80 watts per square meter, displaying an efficiency rate of up to 11%, just a little less than traditional solar panels are currently providing.

Moreover, rumor has it that the new green technology is expected to be even more affordable than any other renewable alternatives developed so far.

Apart from the low costs and increased utility, the new material can be brought and installed in small areas where PV arrays are unsuitable for this job.

The list of advantages is far from being over. According to its developers, the material based on a new generation of solar cells, is perfect for disaster-prone areas, since it is earthquake-resistant.

Right now, the new technology is still in its infancy, but according to CleanTechnica, it has everything it takes to lead to the construction of a new series of green, super-efficient buildings, acting like giant power plants.