The emerging field of agrivoltaics tries to make use of the same tracts of land for both solar power generation and agriculture simultaneously.
Researchers from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering in Los Angeles have been augmenting semi-transparent organic solar cells with a layer of a naturally occurring chemical called L-glutathione to extend the solar cells’ lifetime.
Organic solar cells typically have a much shorter lifespan than traditional technologies, as they rely upon carbon-based materials which degrade over time when exposed to sunlight.
The chemical addition was found to not only extend the lifetime of the cells but also improve their efficiency, while still allowing adequate sunlight to reach plants in a greenhouse prototype about the size of a small dolls house.
Image credit: Yang Yang Laboratory...