The Future of Solar Is Double-Sided Panels that Follow the Sun - Gizmodo

Though double-sided solar panels and sun-following solar panels are both in use currently, models that combine the two technologies aren’t widely available for commercial use.

The study authors determined that these two-sided sun-tracking panels produce an average of 35 percent more energy than immobile single-panel systems, and are 16 percent more cost-efficient.

Lead used in solar panels can be one source of local pollution, and Dustin Mulvaney, an associate professor of environmental studies at San Jose State University and the author of Solar Power: Innovation, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice, who didn’t work on the study, told Earther in an email double-sided panels could mean “twice as much lead” as traditional solar systems.

He also raised issues around land use and ensuring natural surfaces aren’t painted over to max out the amount of energy collected by the bottom panels (something the study didn’t look at).