Danish researchers have developed a groundbreaking transparent solar cell that achieves a record-breaking efficiency of 12.3%.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/03/26/solar-panel-windows-that-could-turn-whole-buildings-into-power-plants-smash-electricity-re
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Submission Statement
These new solar panels are only about half as efficient as traditional ones (12.3% vs. ~20-25%), but their big advantage is that they can be used in more places—like windows—making them a useful addition to existing solar setups.
[A 2013 study](https://energy.mit.edu/news/transparent-solar-cells/) found that even at 5% efficiency, transparent solar windows could supply 25% of a building’s electricity.
Importantly, these technologies are being developed for real-world use, not just lab experiments, meaning they could hit the market soon.
This is great news as windows contitutes a very large, and as of yet unexploited, surface area of urban properties.
Holy shit, at first seeing the headline I was like “oh that kinda stinks” then re-read and saw **they are transparent**. Even at 30% transparency like the article states, this is groundbreaking.
Would they generate more power than is needed to cool the building down from increased heat emissions from said windows? Also what about the fact that those windows would contribute to heat island effect in cities?
the article is nice but i can’t find any source, i mean if it’s a scientific breakthrough i don’t understand why journalists dont link the paper