Researchers Produce Transparent Solar Cell

Hardocp ^ | Sunday July 22, 2012

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

An improvement in the makeup of solar cells generates electricity while maintaining a 70% transparency, making it adaptable to homes and businesses to reduce energy costs. The polymer solar cell is light, flexible and cheap to produce. If this goes into mass production, it could spell the end of unsightly bulky roof mounted solar panels.

"These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics and in other applications"

Comments

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well....it's out of a California locale:

UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity

UCLA Newsroom

UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity

By Jennifer Marcus July 20, 2012 Category: Research

UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano.

 

The UCLA team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

 

"These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics and in other applications," said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering, who also is director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI).

 

Yang, who is also the holder of the Carol and Lawrence E. Tannas, Jr., Endowed Chair in Engineering, added that there has been intense world-wide interest in so-called polymer solar cells. "Our new PSCs are made from plastic-like materials and are lightweight and flexible," he said. "More importantly, they can be produced in high volume at low cost."

 

Polymer solar cells have attracted great attention due to their advantages over competing solar cell technologies. Scientists have also been intensely investigating PSCs for their potential in making unique advances for broader applications. Several such applications would be enabled by high-performance visibly transparent photovoltaic (PV) devices, including building-integrated photovoltaics and integrated PV chargers for portable electronics.

 

Previously, many attempts have been made toward demonstrating visibly transparent or semitransparent PSCs. However, these demonstrations often result in low visible light transparency and/or low device efficiency because suitable polymeric PV materials and efficient transparent conductors were not well deployed in device design and fabrication.

 

A team of UCLA researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute, the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and UCLA’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have demonstrated high-performance, solution-processed, visibly transparent polymer solar cells through the incorporation of near-infrared light-sensitive polymer and using silver nanowire composite films as the top transparent electrode. The near-infrared photoactive polymer absorbs more near-infrared light but is less sensitive to visible light, balancing solar cell performance and transparency in the visible wavelength region.

 

Another breakthrough is the transparent conductor made of a mixture of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which was able to replace the opaque metal electrode used in the past. This composite electrode also allows the solar cells to be fabricated economically by solution processing. With this combination, 4% power-conversion efficiency for solution-processed and visibly transparent polymer solar cells has been achieved.

 

"We are excited by this new invention on transparent solar cells, which applied our recent advances in transparent conducting windows (also published in ACS Nano) to fabricate these devices," said Paul S.Weiss, CNSI director and Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences.

 

Study authors also include Weiss; materials science and engineering postdoctoral researcher Rui Zhu; Ph.D. candidates Chun-Chao Chen, Letian Dou, Choong-Heui Chung, Tze-Bin Song and Steve Hawks; Gang Li, who is former vice president of engineering for Solarmer Energy, Inc., a startup from UCLA; and CNSI postdoctoral researcher Yue Bing Zheng.

 

The study was supported by the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Office of Naval Research, and The Kavli Foundation.

 

The California NanoSystems Institute is an integrated research facility located at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. Its mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations in nanoscience and nanotechnology; to train a new generation of scientists, educators and technology leaders; to generate partnerships with industry; and to contribute to the economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world. The CNSI was established in 2000 with $100 million from the state of California. The total amount of research funding in nanoscience and nanotechnology awarded to CNSI members has risen to over $900 million. UCLA CNSI members are drawn from UCLA's College of Letters and Science, the David Geffen School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Public Health and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. They are engaged in measuring, modifying and manipulating atoms and molecules — the building blocks of our world. Their work is carried out in an integrated laboratory environment. This dynamic research setting has enhanced understanding of phenomena at the nanoscale and promises to produce important discoveries in health, energy, the environment and information technology.

 

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.

 

[UCANSEE2]

Thanks for posting the article.

I found that the link to the ‘cell’ provided much more info, so I thought (if you don’t mind), I would provide it directly.

UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-researchers-create-highly-236698.aspx

[UCANSEE2]

Nevermind.

[UCANSEE2]

The UCLA team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current.

So... they could make sunglasses out of them, which could power your personal devices.

[Marine_Uncle]

From the UCLA article: ""More importantly, they can be produced in high volume at low cost."

Sounds like a potential winner. Perhaps a way some US based manufactures can provide jobs to US citizens residing in America.

[Uncle Slayton]

We need to put the brakes on on this solar and wind energy nonsense as it is beginning to have a real impact on the natural gas industry by devastating prices and will put hard working oilfield folks out of work and hurt our oil companies.

[BobL]

It’s ALL in the numbers. If these cells have lousy efficiency and only a few hours a day of sunlight, they still may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but they’re not going to do too well in the REAL WORLD.

[maine-iac7]

Looks like a lot less work/$$$ to install! - and longer 'shelf-life?"

[JRandomFreeper]

We also need to put a stop to the dang automobile. You have any idea how many buggy makers, saddle makers, and livery stables have gone out of business? /s

/johnny

[bigbob]

increasing efficiency would be more valuable than increasing transparency

[Venturer]

I remember about some guy inventing a car that ran on water, but I haven’t seen one sold yet.

I will believe this when I see it.

Meantime I am sure Obama will send them a research check

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

slaps of plastic,...pour them ,...cure....cut...ship them out.

Could make a difference.

[mazda77]

This is nothing new to me. I have known about them for a couple of years now. The problems I saw from the research I did at the time that they were not very efficient. It took about three times the surface area to produce the same amount of power as typical panels. But like most things I learned about solar power, it is not the silver bullet for energy but an alternative for particular remote applications where running a power cord was not feasible.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That could be big.

Bigger glasses....more devices...

LOL!

[riverrunner]

I have no problem with developing alternate energy as long as the market place rules and they are not forced on us by government mandate.

[muawiyah]

you can combine this sort of device with the spray on batteries just announced and there you go!

[isom35]

just like obama’s college records, they are transparent (meaning we can’t see them).

[aquila48]

When it comes to efficiency (4%) they’re pretty low on the totem pole. The latest solar panels can yield 17%. The price would have to be substantially lower for it to compete.

http://sroeco.com/solar/most-efficient-solar-panels

The problem with solar is that the installation cost is so high. Even if the solar panels were free, all the remaining electrical equipment, installation hardware and labor would still make it more expensive than conventional.

To cut down on these type of costs they have to design them into the house and build the house with them. Also, an additional $20K to a house that costs a couple of hundred thousands isn’t that much and you can get it financed over thirty years and you’ll have free electricity.

I don’t understand why more builders aren’t doing this.

[mazda77]

I don’t understand why more builders aren’t doing this.

Battery storage, capacity and life cycle. The cost is still prohibitive plus the proper ventilated storage design within the house along with a climate controlled environment to keep them operating efficiently.