Giving Plastic Solar Cells an Energy Boost

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http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24792/

Giving Plastic Solar Cells an Energy Boost

Plastic cells are lighter than silicon ones, but they're not as efficient--one company aims to fix that.

By Prachi Patel | Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Polymer solar cells are finding use in solar charging backpacks and umbrellas, but they still only convert around http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22563/">6 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity--or around a third of what conventional silicon panels are capable of. If the efficiency of polymer solar cells--which are cheaper and lighter than silicon cells--can be boosted significantly, they could be ideal for plastering on rooftops or laminating on windows.

http://www.solarmer.com/">Solarmer Energy, based in El Monte, CA, is on target to reach 10 percent efficiency by the end of this year, says Yue Wu, the company's managing director and director of research and development. Organic cells will likely need at least that efficiency to compete on the photovoltaic market.

In collaboration with Luping Yu, a professor at the University of Chicago, the startup has previously engineered polymers that absorb a broad range of wavelengths and has made cells that convert sunlight to electricity with a record efficiency of nearly 8 percent.

Polymer solar cells with even higher efficiencies are in the works. Solarmer is collaborating with http://yylab.seas.ucla.edu/index.aspx">Yang Yang, a materials science and engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Yang is working on a stack of multiple cells that absorb different bands of light. He expects to achieve 12 to 15 percent efficiencies using this approach along with new polymers and better device design. So far, he has made laboratory prototypes that are better than 6 percent efficient. He presents this work on Tuesday at the http://www.aps.org/meetings/march/">American Physical Society meeting.

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