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New Solar Panel Design in Development at USF Poly

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After working for nearly a year, a small group of professors and students have come up with a new design for photovoltaic roofing panels that would improve the efficiency of collecting solar energy.

The new design employs a series of chevrons (V-shaped symbols) on the panel's surface, creating angles that help the sun's light to reach the photovoltaic cells throughout the day. The panels would be constructed from an undisclosed material — the USF team has yet to patent the design — and could be incorporated into shingles or a roofing material, thereby increasing the area for collecting solar energy.

"We have done several patent searches and we're fairly confident there's not anything even remotely like this. We're pretty sure we've got something new," said Roderic Brame, an assistant professor at USF Poly and director of science and technology education at the university.

Brame said the new design would be about 2 percent more efficient in utilizing solar energy than current panels — a notable gain considering the efficiency for most commercially available panels tops out around 20 percent. More importantly, any increase in efficiency would help shorten the time it takes for homeowners to recoup the cost of solar equipment through energy savings, Brame said.

Source: The Ledger