Global demand for food, water, energy, and material resources is likely to increase dramatically as we face fast population growth, continuous climate change, and urbanization. Studies show that with the projected rapid increase in urban energy consumption, we will be facing an energy supply shortage in the next thirty years despite increased investment in renewable energy and fossil fuel exploration [1].
Furthermore, the need to provide food and fresh water to millions of urban residents is transforming conventional farming. Forecasts predict a 50% food production increase from current level by mid-century – and the challenge will be to do that while minimizing energy and land use, environmental degradation, and global warming potential [2]. In the coming decades, conventional farming may begin to give way to precision farming such as indoor, LED-lighted, vertical growing greenhouses for their lower water consumption and higher productivity. However, its energy consumption could skyrocket to 80-fold. The translucent PV panel can harvest the light which is not needed by plants and efficiently convert it to electricity to compensate for the big increase in power consumption without blocking the visible portion of sunlight that is crucial for the plant’s photosynthesis. The cost and conversion efficiency of such a panel is estimated to be similar to state-of-the-art Si panels.
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