Why transparent solar cells could replace windows in the near future. Really!

Unfortunately, this popular science article reads like a cheap commercial! Plus, this just published article pretends to present novel research while in fact it is based on a Michigan State University news release of October 2017, which refers to a Nature Energy article of the same month! I feel cheated! Junk journalism!

I am not sure this innovation will have much practical application for our small and larger existing or future edifices! The article is eerily quiet on the cost of such windows!

At the very end of the article we learn the efficiency of these new solar panels is only 1%!!!

"The solar panels ... consist of transparent luminescent solar concentrators (TLSC). Composed of cyanine, the TLSC is capable of selectively absorbing invisible solar radiation including infrared and UV lights, and letting the rest of the visible rays pass through them. ... It’s a relatively new technology, only first developed in 2013, but it’s already seeing some impressive developments. ...
Unlike, traditional panels, transparent solar panels do not use silicone; instead they consist of a zinc oxide layer covered with a carbon-based IC-SAM layer and a fullerene layer. ...
the researchers ... claim that their transparent solar panels can last for 30 years ...
The efficiency of these fully transparent solar panels is around 1%, though the technology has the potential to reach around 10% efficiency ..."

Why transparent solar cells could replace windows in the near future Researchers have developed transparent solar panels that can be used as glass windows in our homes or even in our phone screens.

Transparent solar technology represents 'wave of the future' (from October 2017)

Emergence of highly transparent photovoltaics for distributed applications (no public access, published October 2017)

Professor ... showing off his transparent luminescent solar concentrator