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Plastic solar cell efficiency breaks record at WFU nanotechnology center
April 20, 2007The global search for a sustainable energy supply is making significant strides at Wake Forest University as researchers at the university's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials have announced that they have pushed the efficiency of plastic solar cells to more than 6 percent.
In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters, Wake Forest researchers describe how they have achieved record efficiency for organic or flexible, plastic solar cells by creating "nano-filaments" within light absorbing plastic, similar to the veins in tree leaves. This allows for the use of thicker absorbing layers in the devices, which capture more of the sun's light.
Efficient plastic solar cells are extremely desirable because they are inexpensive and light weight, especially in comparison to traditional silicon solar panels. Traditional solar panels are heavy and bulky and convert about 12 percent of the light that hits them to useful electrical power. Researchers have worked for years to create flexible, or "conformal," organic solar cells that can be wrapped around surfaces, rolled up or even painted onto structures.
Three percent was the highest efficiency ever achieved for plastic solar cells until 2005 when David Carroll, director of the Wake Forest nanotechnology center, and his research group announced they had come close to reaching 5 percent efficiency.
Now, a little more than a year later, Carroll said his group has surpassed the 6 percent mark.
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Wake Forest University
Three percent was the highest efficiency ever achieved for plastic solar cells until 2005 when David Carroll, director of the Wake Forest nanotechnology center, and his research group announced they had come close to reaching 5 percent efficiency.
Now, a little more than a year later, Carroll said his group has surpassed the 6 percent mark.
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Wake Forest University
Solar Cells Current Events and Solar Cells News RSSUnderstanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices
Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers.
Vibrations key to efficiency of green fluorescent protein
University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered the secret to the success of a jellyfish protein whose green glow has made it the darling of biologists and the subject of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Chemists describe solar energy progress and challenges, including the 'artificial leaf'
Scientists are making progress toward development of an "artificial leaf" that mimics a real leaf's chemical magic with photosynthesis - but instead converts sunlight and water into a liquid fuel such as methanol for cars and trucks.
Toward better solar cells: Chemists gain control of light-harvesting paths
University of Florida chemists have pioneered a method to tease out promising molecular structures for capturing energy, a step that could speed the development of more efficient, cheaper solar cells.
Switzerland has sent its first satellite into space
The Indian launcher Polar Space Launch Vehicle took off at 8:22 a.m. - Swiss time. Twenty minutes later, the SwissCube was ejected from the nose cone of the rocket at an altitude of around 720 kilometers.
Engineers Produce 'How-To' Guide for Controlling the Structure of Nanoparticles
Tiny objects known as nanoparticles are often heralded as holding great potential for future applications in electronics, medicine and other areas.
Looking deeply into polymer solar cells
Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ulm have made the first high-resolution 3D images of the inside of a polymer solar cell.
Carbon nanotubes could make efficient solar cells
Using a carbon nanotube instead of traditional silicon, Cornell researchers have created the basic elements of a solar cell that hopefully will lead to much more efficient ways of converting light to electricity than now used in calculators and on rooftops.
Gold Solution for Enhancing Nanocrystal Electrical Conductance
In a development that holds much promise for the future of solar cells made from nanocrystals, and the use of solar energy to produce clean and renewable liquid transportation fuels, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have reported a technique by which the electrical conductivity of nanorod crystals of the semiconductor cadmium-selenide was increased 100,000 times.
Light at the speed of a bicycle and much more
The speed of light, 300 million metres per second, was long thought an immutable constant and has defined our understanding of matter and energy but recent research in the area of optics and photonics is proving that we can manipulate light to some ingenious and hugely lucrative ends.
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