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Researchers hope to make solar cells with silicon wires
Monday, 15 February 2010, 19:33 IST |
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Chicago: Silicon wires, which use only one percent of the material needed to make conventional solar cells, could soon be used to make solar cells, thanks to a new method devised by a team of U.S. researchers.
The researchers hope to make thin, light solar cells that could be incorporated into clothing, for instance but the immediate benefit is cheaper and easier-to-install solar panels, reports Nature Materials. The new material uses conventional silicon configured into micron-sized wires instead of brittle wafers and encases them in a flexible polymer that can be rolled or bent. "The idea is it would be lower-cost and easier to work with by being more flexible than conventional silicon solar cells," said Michael Kelzenberg of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who worked on the study.
Solar cells, which convert solar energy into electricity, are in high demand because of higher oil prices and concerns over climate change. Many firms, including Sharp and Germany's Q-Cells SE, are making thin-film solar cells using organic materials such as polymers, but they typically are less efficient at converting solar energy into electricity than conventional cells using silicon. The study is among the latest to combine the flexibility of the new organic or carbon-containing films with the high efficiency of silicon, which is heavy and stiff.
