One day, a thin film of 'solar panel' could be painted over windows and walls to turn every home into a giant hi-tech 'sun trap'
One day, a thin film of 'solar panel' could be painted over windows and walls to turn every home into a
giant hi-tech 'sun trap'.
The hi-tech solution could make solar energy a practical solution t the energy crisis.
The technology has long been championed as a solution to the growing energy crisis, but as it exists now, it is far too expensive.
A
typical home needs around 285 square feet of solar panels to meet its
electricity needs, costing around £10,000, although that does not include the
expensive installation.
Scientists
at USC have developed a potential pathway to cheap, stable solar cells
made from nanocrystals so small they can exist as a liquid ink and be
painted or printed onto clear surfaces.
The
solar nanocrystals are about four nanometers in size — meaning you
could fit more than 250,000,000,000 on the head of a pin — and float
them in a liquid solution.
'Like
you print a newspaper, you can print solar cells,’ said Richard L.
Brutchey, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College
of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Liquid
nanocrystal solar cells are cheaper to fabricate than available
single-crystal silicon wafer solar cells but are not nearly as efficient
at converting sunlight to electricity.
Brutchey and Webber solved one
of the key problems of liquid solar cells: how to create a stable
liquid that also conducts electricity.
With a relatively low-temperature process, the researchers' method also allows for the possibility that solar cells can be printed onto plastic instead of glass without any issues with melting – resulting in a flexible solar panel that can be shaped to fit anywhere.
With a relatively low-temperature process, the researchers' method also allows for the possibility that solar cells can be printed onto plastic instead of glass without any issues with melting – resulting in a flexible solar panel that can be shaped to fit anywhere.
As
they continue their research, Brutchey said he plans to work on
nanocrystals built from materials other than cadmium, which is
restricted in commercial applications due to toxicity.
‘While
the commercialization of this technology is still years away, we see a
clear path forward toward integrating this into the next generation of
solar cell technologies,’ Brutchey said.
Other
teams have already worked on similar technologies, using 'quantum dots'
to create 'solar paints' that can absorb energy and conduct
electricity.
Again, though, the research is some way from commercialisation.
Solar power could one day come from a single
coat of paint filled with semi-conducting crystals - replacing bulky
solar panels that take up around 300 square feet of roof and cost around
£10,000
The
paste
created by University of Notre Dame researchers, which is made of
hi-tech 'quantum dots', can be put onto any surface and produce
electricity from the sun.
The
dots are semiconducting crystals which are between two and 10 nanometres in
diameter and are mixed into dye that looks like normal paint.
In
tests they were just one per cent efficient, less than one 10th the efficiency
of a standard solar cell, but the researchers are convinced that rate will improve
in the future.
The
paint has prompted speculation it could
one day be applied to the side of homes to turn the entire property into a
giant hi-tech 'sun trap'.
University
of Notre Dame scientists used nano-sized particles of titanium oxide and
covered them in either cadmium sulphide or cadmium selenide.
The
paste was created by putting this into a mixture of water and alcohol.
When
it was put onto a conducting material and light was shone onto it, the
scientists noticed that electricity was generated.
The
discovery has been praised because it is so simple to set up and required
little more than a paint brush, office tape and a heat gun to make it work.
Lead
researcher Prashant Kamat, a professor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry
at Notre Dame's Center for Nano Science and Technology, said: ‘We want to do
something transformative, to move beyond current silicon-based solar
technology.
Power is generated by semiconducting crystals
which are between two and 10 nanometres in diameter - and are mixed into
dye that looks like normal paint
‘By
incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a
spreadable compound, we've made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to
any conductive surface without special equipment.’
He
added: ‘The goal is to prepare a solar paint that has long shelf life.‘In our
laboratories we have tested the performance for a few days to a week, and we
find it stable as long as it is stored in the dark.
Additional tests are
underway to investigate long-term stability of paints with different
compositions.’
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