We need a variety of cell that is transparent to wavelengths plants use, so they could be used above farmland and pasturage. Many plants could probably be grown under them in places where it would otherwise be too hot, maybe even needing less water.
Yes, they don't use green. Or infrared, beyond 700nm. I don't know if they reflect the IR like they do the green.
Conversion efficiency of the part they do use can't be more than a few percent, so they probably radiate in IR. Converting IR radiating from plants, as suggested in TFA, thus seems like a good idea.
That sounds smart. They use tons of water anyway in the desert to keep solar panels clean. I'm not sure if it's captured but using it for agriculture would be nice. Maybe the process of greening the environment could even reduce how much sand gets blown around, so even less water would be needed for cleaning.
looks like there are (led?) lights under the pictured double-sided gas station solar panel canopy. letting some of the light through would be more efficient that the conversion to electricity and then back to light.
and yes, you'd still need lighting at night, but a semi-transparent roof combined with the wider area lights already in use at gas stations would still likely be more efficient.
(of course this doesn't consider the value of the shade on hot days)
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 39.1 ms ] thread> The formula shows that the efficiency gain of bifacial solar cells increases with light reflected from a surface.
Perhaps a better title would be "Newly discovered formula explains efficiency gains from bifacial solar cells"
Best be making green absorbing panels. The plants ain't using that part of the spectrum.
Conversion efficiency of the part they do use can't be more than a few percent, so they probably radiate in IR. Converting IR radiating from plants, as suggested in TFA, thus seems like a good idea.
I mean this is cool for fixed structures but overall finding some empty space and pointing the thing straight at the sun seems better.
and yes, you'd still need lighting at night, but a semi-transparent roof combined with the wider area lights already in use at gas stations would still likely be more efficient.
(of course this doesn't consider the value of the shade on hot days)