3 ms·
If you've ever driven on a road approaching a hillside photovoltaics installation from the east at just the right time in the afternoon when it projects the sun
by usrusr 5y ago
If you've ever driven on a road approaching a hillside photovoltaics installation from the east at just the right time in the afternoon when it projects the sun right into traffic, you wouldn't be so sure to assume that 100% of incoming photons go either to electricity or to heat... but yeah, high albedo photovoltaic might be an interesting research topic. We have semi-translucent panels that seem to only sacrifice so much efficiency, some room for high albedo should exist (probably not much). Market would of course be people showing off that they can afford different looks, like those musk-shingles. But efficiency also dereases with temperature, so perhaps this might be another angle ? Invoking the impact on total earth albedo certainly won't drive any buying decisions, tragedy of the commons and all that...