Coming soon to a windowpane near you, a solar panel you can see through! Science scholars discover new solar technology in a short video. The narrator compares the dark, traditional solar panel with the recently developed clear version and explains the pros and cons of each.

Concepts

alternative energy sources, solar cells, solar panels, sunlight, wavelength

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Video makes a great addition to an alternative energy sources or technology lesson
• Locate data that compares the efficiency of clear solar panels with the traditional design

Classroom Considerations

• Give additional information on how the solar energy collected is transformed into electrical energy

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The resource highlights some of the difficulties developers are having in terms of cost and efficiency, which can be used to launch an NGSS-aligned activity on improving a design
• Animations show how the clear panels with tiny embedded cells collect certain wavelengths of sunlight while allowing others to pass through

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.6.2 SL.7.2 SL.9-10.2