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(Physorg) -- Currently, most solar
cells are based on silicon which for the most part, necessitates a rigid
structure. This isn’t always ideal as some applications would benefit by
material that is more bendable. Also, because of the way silicon solar based
cells are made, they tend to cost more than a lot of people are willing to pay.
If a way could be found to mass produce solar cells very cheaply, its likely
solar cells would be installed in far more places and costs for energy would go
down.
One way to do this, researchers believe, is to create a polymer based
material that could be used instead of silicon. Such material would cost less to
produce and have sufficient bendiness that it could be printed onto bendable
surfaces in much the same way newspapers are mass printed, i.e. via giant
rollers. Up
Now a team working out of USC, headed by Alan Heeger, who along with
Guillermo Bazan won the Nobel Prize in Physics back in 2000 for groundbreaking
work they did on polymer cells, believe they have made another breakthrough. In
their paper, published in Nature Materials, they say they’ve figured out a way
to use an organic material with a low molecular weight (small molecule) to
produce a solar cell that is every bit as efficient as current silicon
technology.
The small molecule technology came about as the result of work done by
Bazan, who used theory and lots of trial and error to produce just the right
material; one that could, unlike many others that had been tried, be formed into
a layer that could be applied to other materials. Heeger then took the lead in
applying the new material in a solar cell. The end result the team says, is a
solar cell capable of matching the 6.7% energy efficiency of silicon cells. And
not only that, they believe with some tweaking, they can get it to 9%.
mrcplast.com
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