As scientists toil away looking for solutions to solar photovoltaic technology’s low efficiency, one company has found a simple way to make use of the power generally wasted in traditional solar panels.

EchoFirst, Inc.has developed a hybrid electric and thermal panel for new residential construction as well as retrofits on older homes.

Most standard commercial solar photovoltaic panels capture only about 15 percent of the sun’s energy, said the company’s chief marketing officer, Gordon Handelsman.

“The other 85 units are wasted,” he said. “Where do they go?”

They’re absorbed by the solar panel as heat, he explained. Normally that heat makes little difference in the performance of a solar panel. But if panels get too hot, it actually decreases the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells on the panel.

The heat absorption, as a result, is usually seen as a problem and it can make solar panels less attractive for projects in super-hot climates.

What Echo has done seems like such a simple and logical solution that it’s a wonder we haven’t been doing this with solar panels all along.

The company’s panels are sealed on three sides with an opening at the bottom, Hendelsman said.

“We have a very elegant way to take away that thermal heat and use it,” he said.

Where solar thermal solutions usually involve water, Echo blows fresh air through the panels to superheat it and then transports the hot air into a home’s central HVAC system. That hot air is used to naturally heat the home in the winter and can fuel an innovative cooling system in the summer.

“Because we’re a fresh air system using fresh air ventilation, our systems are really easy to install,” Handelsman said. “If we were using hydro thermal you’d have to get a plumber on the roof or a roofer doing plumbing. Neither is ideal.”

Echo solar installations are becoming more and more prevalent in new home construction. Several builders use the system, Handelsman said. Meritage Homes, one of the country’s largest builders, even includes the Echo system as standard on some of its most energy efficient homes.

“The technology works equally well in existing homes,” Handelsman said.

Image courtesy of EchoFirst, Inc.