The German brand Mercedes-Benz has developed a coating for cars that is applied to the body as a thin paste and is capable of converting solar energy into electricity with an efficiency of 20%.
This is reported by the pv magazine portal.
“Solar paint” is a non-silicon photovoltaic coating. It consists of “innovative solar modules” with a thickness of 5 microns and a weight of 50 g per square meter.
The new coating can be applied to any substrate. The protective layer is a new type of paint based on nanoparticles. It transmits 94% of solar energy. The estimated coating efficiency is 20%.
The developers have calculated that a medium-sized SUV with an area of 11 square meters of the new coating will be able to generate enough energy to cover up to 12,000 km per year under ideal sunlight conditions.
Mercedes-Benz emphasized that the new coating does not contain rare earth elements or silicon. The material is made from non-toxic, readily available raw materials. It is recyclable and much cheaper to produce than conventional solar modules.
As EcoPolitics reported earlier, scientists have found an unexpected source of scarce metals needed for the green transition. It was coal ash from power plants.
