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Solar cell efficiency could double with novel ‘green’ antenna
http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2015/august/edible-antenna.html[font face=Serif]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | August 18, 2015
[font size=5]Solar cell efficiency could double with novel ‘green’ antenna[/font]
[font size=3]BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2015 — The use of solar energy in the U.S. is growing, but panels on rooftops are still a rare sight. They cost thousands of dollars, and homeowners don’t recoup costs for years even in the sunniest or best-subsidized locales. But scientists may have a solution. They report today the development of a unique, “green” antenna that could potentially double the efficiencies of certain kinds of solar cells and make them more affordable.
…
Commercial solar cells do a good job of converting light from about 600 to 1,000 nanometers (nm) into electric current but not from the 350 to 600 nm range. That’s part of the reason solar cells on the market today are only about 11 to 15 percent efficient. High-end panels can reach 25 percent efficiency but are unaffordable for most customers. Lab prototypes can reach even higher efficiencies but are difficult to scale up.
Converting the mostly unused portion of the light spectrum to wavelengths solar cells can use in an affordable way is far from a simple task. To tackle this problem, Kumar turned to organic dyes. Photons in light excite dye molecules, which can then, under the right circumstances, relax and emit less energetic but more silicon-friendly photons.
…
“It’s very simple chemistry,” Kumar says. “It can be done in the kitchen or in a remote village. That makes it inexpensive to produce.”
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]Solar cell efficiency could double with novel ‘green’ antenna[/font]
[font size=3]BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2015 — The use of solar energy in the U.S. is growing, but panels on rooftops are still a rare sight. They cost thousands of dollars, and homeowners don’t recoup costs for years even in the sunniest or best-subsidized locales. But scientists may have a solution. They report today the development of a unique, “green” antenna that could potentially double the efficiencies of certain kinds of solar cells and make them more affordable.
…
Commercial solar cells do a good job of converting light from about 600 to 1,000 nanometers (nm) into electric current but not from the 350 to 600 nm range. That’s part of the reason solar cells on the market today are only about 11 to 15 percent efficient. High-end panels can reach 25 percent efficiency but are unaffordable for most customers. Lab prototypes can reach even higher efficiencies but are difficult to scale up.
Converting the mostly unused portion of the light spectrum to wavelengths solar cells can use in an affordable way is far from a simple task. To tackle this problem, Kumar turned to organic dyes. Photons in light excite dye molecules, which can then, under the right circumstances, relax and emit less energetic but more silicon-friendly photons.
…
“It’s very simple chemistry,” Kumar says. “It can be done in the kitchen or in a remote village. That makes it inexpensive to produce.”
…[/font][/font]