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Posted on 01/09/2008 6:01:33 AM PST by Uncledave
Boffin boosts solar cell size 100-fold
Nano technology makes things bigger Ian Williams, vnunet.com 08 Jan 2008
A researcher at Israel's Bar-Ilan University has created a solar cell 100 times bigger than previous designs using nano-based methods.
Professor Arie Zaban, head of the university's Nanotechnology Institute, had already developed a method of using metallic wires mounted on conductive glass to form the basis of solar cells.
This method produces electricity with an efficiency similar to that of conventional silicon-based cells, but which are much cheaper to produce.
Professor Zaban has now expanded this concept by developing a solar cell measuring 10cm x 10cm, which is 100 times bigger than the original 1cm x 1cm cells. The scientist reckons that this dramatic increase in surface area will significantly boost the cells' usefulness in technologies that seek to produce commercial amounts of solar power.
"Initially, we created linked arrays of very small cells which led to a loss of efficiency because the sunlight hitting the space between the cells was not converted to electricity," explained Professor Zaban.
"Our new design offers 10 times more surface area, which means that more of the array is actively capturing the Sun's energy. This makes our new cell a practical choice for solar energy production."
The research has also found a way reducing the cost of solar panels by economising on the use of platinum, a highly reactive metal which is embedded on the glass cell's surface and forms an important part of its operation.
"We have found a way to produce platinum nanodots, tiny crystals measuring only a few nanometres in diameter. Thanks to this technique, we reduce the amount of platinum needed by a factor of 40," said Professor Zaban.
The new solar cells should become commercially available within the next five years, and the combination of better efficiency and lower cost should make them a viable and compelling alternative to fossil fuels.
"We have to make the basic infrastructure extremely affordable because the third-world countries that stand to benefit the most from solar power usually lack the money to invest in it," said Professor Zaban.
"By making cells more efficient and keeping material costs down, nano-based techniques are moving us closer to that goal."
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I wish that was a publicly traded company one could invest in. Unfortunately the multi-billionares of Google and others already own it. Probably an IPO in the future.
But will an EMP wipe them all out?
Maybe nano-tech can overcome that risk.
Look for nanosolar, a company rolling out CIGS solar cells. I expect they will have an IPO and they are printing real product
I'm not doubting his claim but it is really strange that the professor would state this incorrectly. Could it be a typo?
There is a glaring error in this story, platinum is not a highly reactive metal.
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It's not chemically reactive. But this is a photovoltaic reaction, and perhaps platinum responds to photons in a "highly reactive" manner.
All of which is true, but the technolgy developed by Nanosolar is better on all counts, and is already going into large-scale production. No platinum, no glass, low temperature fabrication, ultra-cheap production mechanism.
The heck it's not. It's one of the MOST reactive catalytic materials available. True--it itself does not change state in most of its uses---but it darned well DOES participate in the chemical reactions it catalyzes.
Not according to the latest from the company. The head honcho says that have all the funding they need for the foreseeable future already sewed up without needing an IPO. But they ARE indeed "printing real product"---and building world-scale production plants to produce even more.
At any rate, I think the photo-cell guy wasn't talking about chemical reactions for the platinum.
That’s what the guy said, but I looked at the manufacturing facilities they’re building. They’re going to blow through that $200 million, and I’m hoping that when they do, the rest of us will have a chance at these. At $1/Watt, I am definitely in.
You'd lose. I "am" a chemist. And any chemist will tell you that platinum is darned well HIGHLY reactive. The mechanism of that reacticity depends on the specific reactions it takes part in---but it DOES participate in the reactions, and it sometimes changes electron states exactly as does sodium and/or chlorine--the key difference is that at the end of the sequence of reactions, it regains it's original electron state.
I hope you're right, because I'm with you all the way. I'd definitely invest bucks there. Their approach is a gigantic breakthrough in the solar energy biz. But I think their capital will go further than you think, because the actual production machinery is inherently pretty cheap.
I know -- which is why I wanted to avoid the contest. But to dribble on my shoes a bit, what you've described confirms that platinum really is a different kind of beast in these reactions.
And anyway, once again, I don't think the fellow is really talking about chemical reactions in his solar cells.
I also wonder about their vulnerability to voltage induced by nearby lightning. They are just a big P-N junction. Any breakdown across the junction will destroy it and the surface area of the junction is so huge compared to that found in IC geometries.
“I also wonder about their vulnerability to voltage induced by nearby lightning.”
I’m Polish so I can offer this solution.
Wrap the entire panel in copper screening and that’ll block the pulse from lightning!
The Google guys, who have made it their mission in life to promote alternate energy, are behind it. This company has effectively unlimited VC funding.
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