Konarka Powers Up
30 October 2008, 13:28
Categories: smt-energy-photovoltaic
Konarka, a company based in Lowell, Ma, is creating one gigawatt of electricity through a large-scale commercial factory. The factory produces organic solar cells using preëxisting machines that formerly produced medical images for Polaroid.
Organic solar cells will potentially cut the costs associated with solar power. The solar cells use organic polymers instead of crystalline silicon, which makes them more cost effective. According to the President of Konarka, Richard Heiss, the cost of production is about one-tenth the cost in comparison with other technologies.
The organic solar cells are usable in a variety of applications, due to their lightweight properties as well as their wide range of colors. One product that Konarka is currently making the organic solar cells for is a lightweight briefcase that allows for laptops to be rechargeable and thus cord-free.
The solar cells emerged from the ideas of Alan Heeger, a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His solar-cell design comprised of two main ideas: the first is a polymer that releases electrons when exposed to sunlight, the second, carbon nanostructures called fullerenes that escort electrons away from the polymers to an external electronic circuit, that generates electricity.
Konarka’s solar cells employ these same structures. The solar cell technology is still in an early stage of development. Ideally, organic solar cells would be as efficient as conventional (i.e., first generation) solar cells, but currently they are 10 to 12 percent less efficient in energy conversion of sunlight in comparison to conventional solar cells. Konarka hopes to increase the efficiency of the cells 7 to 10 percent. The company then hopes to increase production as well as new functions for the organic solar cells such as window lamination for additional energy production and tinting.
Posted by: The Editors
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