Making Colorful Buildings that Convert Solar Light into Energy
December 16, 2015 | OSAEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
In particular, the researchers made a square absorber 60 mm on each side. They covered the absorber with a mosaic of dielectric materials, forming a grid of 16 tiles. Each tile was of a different thickness – and thus a different color. Each tile, which could be made as small as one millimeter on each side, acts like a pixel on the absorber.
Using this methodology, an absorber with up to a thousand of these pixel-like color units – which would be virtually impossible with conventional absorbers – can be built and form almost any pattern you want, Wang said. For example, you could make a camouflage pattern, which would be useful for making solar thermal devices for the military.
While the technology isn't market-ready yet, he said that with enough industry investment, the methods could be commercialized in the near future.
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