Nanowires To Improve Solar Cells Efficiency
By Nick May 25, 2008
Two teams of scientists working separately, both studying the nanowire technology, discovered two different ways to use nanowires in the solar cells efficiency-boosting process. The first one from the UC San Diego created hair solar cells, meaning that they are of microscopical sizes. They play the role of nanowires, completing thus very small circuits.
The first team was also able to grow then onto a cheap conductive surface made of indium tin oxide and coat then with organic polymer afterwards. The second team is made of a consortium of German (Jena, Gottingen and Bremen) and US (Harvard) universities. They managed to develop a technique for nanowires and spun glass bondage.
In the second technique, nanowires are placed between a highly conductive bottom layer and a metallic top one, and the spun glass has a ‘spacer layer’ role, preventing the circuits from shorting. The main issue that remains to be solved is that the polymer layer would degrade when in contact with air. If these methods reach the market, we could deal with cheaper and smaller solar panels.
Topics: Energy |
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