Old car batteries can increase solar panel production - Energy news and reports - Renewable Energy Articles

Written by Ned HaluzanTuesday, 19 August 2014 11:05

It is a great possibility that solar energy will one day become the most important energy sourceon our planet but in order for this to happen science will have to come up with somebreakthrough discoveries that will make solar panel production more efficient, cheaper andsustainable. One of the most recent scientific discoveries on this topic comes from the USMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In their recent study the MIT researchers proposed system that would recycle many materialsfrom old car batteries and then transform these materials into solar panels. This so called"perovskite technology" uses recycled lead from old car batteries, so that the manufacturingprocess can reuse it in photovoltaic panels instead of being dumped into landfills.

The initial tests were very promising. In fact, the researchers reported that the lead from a singlecar battery is capable to produce enough solar panels to provide enough power for 30households. The process can also be done at lot lower temperatures than the conventionalsolar cell manufacturing which is also a significant advantage.

The additional benefit of this process lies in the fact that lead batteries are being graduallyreplaced by more efficient lithium-ion batteries which means that many millions lead batterieswill have to be retired in the upcoming years, so instead of potentially damaging environmentthey could be used to produce clean energy in form of solar power.

Currently, it has been estimated that 90 percent of the lead recovered from the recycling of oldbatteries is used to produce new batteries, but over time the market for new lead-acid batteries

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Old car batteries can increase solar panel production - Energy news and reports - Renewable Energy Articles

Written by Ned HaluzanTuesday, 19 August 2014 11:05

will likely decline so producing solar cells from them seems like a very logical solution.

The researchers also reported that once solar panel is finished, the lead-containing layer wouldbe fully encapsulated by other materials thus limiting the risk of lead contamination of theenvironment. When the panels reach their lifespan the lead can simply be recycled into new solar panels.

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