Inorganic organic PV (nanocrystal) solution...

[skids]

(and by solution, that's as in a chemical solution.)

Press seems in a tizzy about this. Me I don't get excited until it's out of the lab and onto roofs. But anyway, since the article is getting around, I guess we should have a thread here.

The development of ultra-thin photovoltaic solar panels known as ‘nanocrystal cells’ has passed a ‘scientific milestone’ at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory according to reports, which could see the application reaching market sooner than anticipated.

Researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed the first ultra-thin solar cells comprised entirely of inorganic nanocrystals and spin-cast from solution. These dual nanocrystal solar cells are as cheap and easy to make as solar cells made from organic polymers and offer the added advantage of being stable in air because they contain no organic materials.

...

"We obviously still have a long way to go in terms of energy conversion efficiency but our dual nanocrystal solar cells are ultra-thin and solution-processed, which means they retain the cost-reduction potential that has made organic cells so attractive vis-a-vis their conventional semiconductor counterparts," added Gur.

(Current lab efficiency from another article was 3%, which IIRC is about where plastic fabric cells are at on production lines. More surface area needed, but cheaper per watt.)

http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/index.php?news=2832

[efhmc]

1. OMG, someone making advancements if slowly to help us with our

energy addiction. Thanks for the information.

[skids]

2. There are "advancements" every week.

You can't go a week without progress being made in the lab. Last week it was the nanocrystal lightbulb. The week before yet another kind of plastic solar cell. Before that, nanotube light antenna and before that, "pot processed nanodots", slivers, redyable organics, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

The question is always -- when does that translate to progress in the factory? When is financing pulled down for a 1MW/year production line? 10MW? 1000MW? When does it actually slash PV prices like we're promised each and every time?

My bet is on concentrator systems and CIGS as the techs that actually make that price slash happen in the short term. It won't be drastic but probably will reduce costs by 1/2 to 1/4. Over in China, you can add thermophotovoltaics to that, but I've seen no mention of them being prepared for the U.S. market.