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05 June 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Lucas Erasmus and Prof Hendrik Swart
Lucas Erasmus and Prof Hendrik Swart (right) are working on a joint project with Ghent University to find an attractive solution to address the energy demands of buildings, electric motor vehicles, and mobile electronics.
With a constant increase in the price of electricity, any innovation to replace this necessity in our daily lives is welcome. 

The University of the Free State (UFS), whose vision is supported by an element of innovation, welcomes the recent agreement between its Department of Physics and Ghent University.

Attractive solution

Not only will this research – which aims to develop the materials necessary for transparent solar panels – enlarge the international research footprint of the UFS, but it is also an attractive solution to address the energy demands of buildings, electric motor vehicles, and mobile electronics without affecting their appearance.

According to Prof Hendrik Swart, from the UFS Department of Physics, the agreement between the two universities entails a joint doctoral degree in which both universities will supervise the project and the awarding of the doctorate. The student, Lucas Erasmus, will conduct research at both institutions.

Transparent solar panel

The idea with the research is to develop glass that is transparent to visible light, just like the glass you find in the windows of buildings, motor vehicles, and mobile electronic devices. However, by incorporating the right phosphor materials inside the glass, the light from the sun that is invisible to the human eye (ultraviolet and infrared light) can be collected, converted, and concentrated to the sides of the glass panel where solar panels can be mounted. This invisible light can then be used to generate electricity to power these buildings, vehicles, and electronic devices. The invention is therefore a type of transparent solar panel.

Implemented in cellphone screens

This technology can be implemented in the building environment to meet the energy demands of the people inside the buildings. 

The technology is also good news for the 4,7 billion cellphone users in the world, as it can be implemented in the screens of cellphones, where the sun or the ambient light of a room can be used to power the device without affecting its appearance. 

Another possible application is in electric cars, where the windows can be used to help power the vehicle.

Low-income housing

Erasmus added: “We are also looking at implementing this idea into hard, durable plastics that can act as a replacement for zinc roofs.” 

“This will allow visible light to enter housing, and the invisible light can then be used to generate electricity. The device also concentrates the light from a large area to the small area on the sides where the solar panels are placed; therefore, reducing the number of solar panels needed and, in return, reducing the cost.”

The technology will take about a decade to implement.

“This study is currently ongoing, and we are experimenting and testing different materials in order to optimise the device in the laboratory. After this, it needs to be upscaled in order to test it in the field. It is truly the technology of the future,” said Erasmus.

Video: Barend Nagel

News Archive

Researcher wins prize for her work to reduce environmental pollution
2016-12-26

Description: Josepha Zielke Tags: Josepha Zielke 

Prof Danie Vermeulen, Dean of the Faculty of Natural
and Agricultural Sciences, and Josepha Zielke, a
PhD student at the Institute for Groundwater studies at the
University of the Free State.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Josepha Zielke, a PhD student at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), received the prize for the best student presentation at the International Mine Water Association (IMWA) symposium in Leipzig, Germany, this year. Her paper was titled Fine Ash Leaching in Tailings Dams – An Impact on the Underlying Aquifers?
 
Zielke said: “It is an honour to receive this prize as a student. IMWA is a big association which allows you to establish a network with other scientists, to exchange opinions and ideas and to gain new inspiration for your own work. It was exciting and informative to hear about the research conducted around the world and to meet the researchers themselves.”
 
Born in Germany, Zielke always wanted to study overseas. During an exchange year in Grade 11, she visited South Africa. When she had to make a decision about in which country to complete her studies, South Africa was first choice as she was familiar with the people and the country.
 
Zielke joins leading institute on groundwater research in the country
She completed her BSc Hons in Geology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. After working for a year in exploration, she decided to focus her studies on water-related problems which  has been a growing issue, not only in South Africa, but in many places around the world. Zielke heard that the UFS Institute for Groundwater Studies was the leading institute on groundwater research in the country, and decided to join the university.
 
After completing her MSc research, An analysis of the geochemical weathering profile within a fine ash tailings dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa, Zielke started the research for her PhD project on groundwater pollution along a fault system in Mpumalanga.
 
Research adding value to the environment by reducing pollution
She explains the focus of her research: “Several production plants and mine waste facilities are located on or near these geological structures which could be a possible cause of ground and surface water pollution. With the aid of geophysical ground surveys (using electromagnetics and electrical resistivity tomography), aquifer and tracer tests, we are trying to determine where the pollution is coming from, how far it has been distributed and to model the potential risks.
 
“This research will add value to the environment by preventing or at least reducing pollution leaking into the environment. Industrial sites always have a negative footprint on the environment but at least we try and contain it by finding the cause of ground and surface water pollution. Thereafter we try and solve the pollution problem or at least mitigate the damage to prevent the spreading of ground and surface water pollution in the area.”

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