Polymer Solar Cells
24 December 2007, 16:40
Categories: smt-energy-photovoltaic polymers
Organic photovoltaics are potentially very cheap because their organic molecules are soluble and, hence, can be screen printed, inkjet printed, or placed by spray deposition. These techniques also takes place at low temperatures, which means solar cells can be “printed” on flexible, plastic substrates, like those being developed by Konarka.
However, with the exception of dye-sensitized solar cells, invented by Michael Grätzel of the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, the highest reported efficiency for an organic solar cell is 6.5%. Although emerging developments might soon push efficiencies above 10%, new polymers will need to be developed for polymer-based solar cells to rise above this. They are still well below the 23% efficiency of Crystalline Si solar cells.
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Posted by: The Editors
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