Trees Used to Create Recyclable, (2.7%) Efficient Solar Cell

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=201941

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Trees Used to Create Recyclable, Efficient Solar Cell[/font]

Posted March 25, 2013 Atlanta, GA

[font size=3]Solar cells are just like leaves, capturing the sunlight and turning it into energy. It’s fitting that they can now be made partially from trees.

Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers have developed efficient solar cells using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees. Just as importantly, by fabricating them on cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates, the solar cells can be quickly recycled in water at the end of their lifecycle.

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The researchers report that the organic solar cells reach a power conversion efficiency of 2.7 percent, an unprecedented figure for cells on substrates derived from renewable raw materials. The CNC substrates on which the solar cells are fabricated are optically transparent, enabling light to pass through them before being absorbed by a very thin layer of an organic semiconductor. During the recycling process, the solar cells are simply immersed in water at room temperature. Within only minutes, the CNC substrate dissolves and the solar cell can be separated easily into its major components.

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“Our next steps will be to work toward improving the power conversion efficiency over 10 percent, levels similar to solar cells fabricated on glass or petroleum-based substrates,” said Kippelen. The group plans to achieve this by optimizing the optical properties of the solar cell’s electrode.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep01536

[DetlefK]

1. Efficiency is not everything: Durability and Processing count way more.

This solar-cell can't get wet, so it will need a protective glass-layer.

Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) have efficiencies of up to 10% and can fairly easy be manufactured by spreading several layers of chemicals on a glass-sheet. The biggest downside so far is that they need metalo-organic chemicals, which are expensive. But research is currently underway to find organic chemicals that have the right properties.

[Shankapotomus]

2. K&R'ed n/t