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| Science & Technology |
| Another possible breakthrough in Photovoltaics |
| 2006-01-17 |
| "...This latest device demonstrates that significant power can be harvested from the IR and near-IR portion of the solar spectrum [the IR portion of the spectrum has almost 50% of the energy but existing devices only are able to use the visible portion of the spectrum].", said Dr. Stephen R. Forrest. "In fact, this novel approach has the potential to double the power output of organic solar devices [the problem with silicon cells is that they are expensive, brittle and heavy]with power harvested from the near-IR and IR portion of the solar spectrum. With this approach we are well on our way to power levels exceeding 100 watts per [cubic]meter", Forrest concluded. |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #2 yes they didn't give much data; I suspect that is because their solar cell was so small it would have been a bit embarrassing yes also that gallium-indium cells are promising; but, sadly, there just aren't very many deposits of this stuff |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-01-17 11:51 |
| #1 Great! Except the article has no data. Current organic dye solar cells have only 4% efficiency (and they absorb in the near IR) vs 12% efficiency for amorphous silicon cells (120 watts per square meter). In fact, the best organic solar cells absorb and convert only about 1/3 of the total available light utilizing primarily the visible portion of the spectrum. I'm not sure how they calculate that, but if was true, then organics would already be at least 17% efficiency vs the 4% usually cited. And with a price of about 1/2 of amorphous silicon cells, I wouldn't shingle my roof with them yet. What is more interesting technically are gallium-indium cells that have greater than 50% efficiency from the IR to visible to ultraviolet, though the materials are expensive. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-01-17 11:01 |