One of the problems with a large percentage of architects and homeowners is that solar panels just aren’t an attractive addition to the house. To put it politely, they are unsightly. Well, that’s starting to change with the introduction this year of SolarSkin, by Sistine Solar. Sistine Solar, a Boston based design firm, is making major strides with the concept of aesthetic enhancement that allow solar panels to have a customized look.
SolarSkin, developed by MIT engineers, is a thin film coated with ultra-durable graphics and integrated onto high efficiency solar panels. The technology employs selective light filtration to simultaneously display an image and transmit sunlight to the underlying solar cells with minimal loss in efficiency. The end result: those drab industrial solar panels are transformed into the most elegant way to generate electricity.
Backed by the Department of Energy SunShot initiative, SolarSkin has successfully passed multiple rounds of extensive, accelerated aging testing across a spectrum of climactic zones and at the world’s premier solar labs.
This is just one of the many advances that are happening in solar technology. We’ll be featuring an in-depth look at the most current technologies in our Summer issue of Technology Designer Magazine with an expansive article by our contributing writer Steve Crabb. From personal-wear solar to solar roads, we’ll run down the latest technology advances.
