Solid Transparent Photovoltaics for Invisible Energy Supplies on Human Interface Applications

Humans have been widely using fossil fuels due to their ease of consumption for energy production with substantial concern. United Nations reported the World Commission on Environment and Development for “Our Common Future”. Sustainable development is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Renewable and sustainable energy resources are among the pivotal issues of sustainability, and photovoltaic power is a powerful shifter of the energy paradigm.<br/><br/>Photovoltaic energy production provides a great opportunity to support global energy demand. If we can transparently produce energy, we may apply invisible power generators to residential architectures to supply energy without losing visibility.<br/>Transparent Photovoltaic (TPV) is the technology of solar cells to convert light to electric energy beyond the darkness. Different from the typically dark or opaque solar cells, TPV is transparent by passing the visible range lights due to the wide-energy bandgap of metal-oxides. And thus, human beings may not recognize the existence of TPV entities but the electric energy is generated through the invisible power generator. This kind of invisible TPV may open a new era for on-demand energy supplying system, by being applied in windows of cell phones, displays, vehicles, and buildings.<br/><br/>Beyond the energy issues, transparent power generation can interface to human for bioelectronics, communications and memory devices. One day, human will use the invisible energy and relevant devices without losing a vision. ‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom (Richard Feynman)’ to explore the future technologies with the energy ubiquity.