Power plastics: Solarmer Energy aims to hit 10 percent efficiency by the end of this year with its printable plastic solar cells. Its organic solar modules, should be incorporated into backpacks and cell phone charging panels by early 2011.
Solarmer Energy
Plastic cells are lighter than silicon ones, but they're not as efficient--one company aims to fix that.
Polymer solar cells are finding use in solar charging backpacks and umbrellas, but they still only convert around 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.
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 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 American Physical Society meeting.
Polymer solar cells should be cheaper to make than thin-film cadmium-telluride or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) ones because they use low-cost materials that are easy to print, says Michael McGehee, a materials science and engineering professor at Stanford University. But McGehee believes polymer cells will need to be more than 15 percent efficient to have a major impact on the solar power market. "We still don't understand the physics well enough to know what the theoretical limit is," McGehee says. "I think cells with 15 to 20 percent could be possible."
Solarmer's research team has multiple tactics for increasing cell efficiency. Its cells are made of a semiconducting polymer that absorbs sunlight and releases electrons, and a carbon nanostructure that shuttles the electrons to the external circuit.
A new polymer film protects panels from water so they can last for decades.
A new method will reduce the cost and complexity of manufacturing.
A layer of optical fiber bristles doubles the performance of organic solar cells in tests.
In what location was the 3 year rating determined? Because if it is in California, then it will last half as long in the tropics.
They are talking like stretching the lifetime to 5 years would be a breakthrough. Replacing your solar roof every 5 years? No thanks, not even close -- they need at least 3X to be in the ballpark. Especially given that the reported efficiency and lifetime are probably for lab samples where the whole engineering team put in the hours to make that one thing work. Shave off 20% in real life use. Not ready for prime time, wish them luck though.
If you really want to help with a break-through in solar cell efficiency, then join World Community Grid. It is a grid-computing project that has many projects to choose from. One of them is called "Clean Energy". They are researching different organic materials to find out which would be the best to use in a solar cell. With the material being organic the researchers are hoping to be able to build an extremely cheap yet very effecient solar cell. I run WCG on all my home computers and have selected that project as well as many others.
Not emphasized here is another use for polymer PV. Wireless indoor power. Unlike silicon, polymer OV can effectively harvest artificial and filtered indoor lighting, allowing for more wireless gizmos around the house.
That is a great idea. It is mind boggling to think of the opportunity which lies here.
Instead of being cheap, the environmental way also needs to take into consideration, therefore among energy-environment-economics can be moving concurrently.
-gede widia pratama adhyaksa-
Re: Economically efficient ways
adhyaksa,
Is that quote in Sanskrit?
Could you give us a translation?
Plastic Solar Cells Can Power Mobiles
I recently read a blog on the closing of a solar panel facility by BP in Maryland. Plastic Solar Cells lend themselves to continuous web manufacturing and as such lend themselves to a high degree of automation and quality control. This may help keep manufacturing in the USA. It will also drive the design of a new line of innovative products. I have suggested an inflatable personal mobile using plastic solar cells.
http://dancrissco.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/solar-power-plastic-inflatable-personal-electric-mobile/
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
Our list of the 50 most innovative companies, including the following:
On Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the Feed
RD
211 Comments
life expectancy
What is the efficiency over those 3 years? We need a better cost comparison, such as a net present value. If the production curve starts downward right after use, then the plastic sheeting concept isn't viable. The manpower to install and replace, and to recycle the deteriorated components also adversely affect short life plastic solar cells.
What is the longevity comparison between silicon cells?
Reply