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Solar cells you can paint on the wall

Posted: 18/08/2007

Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology claim they've created a solar cell which is cheap and can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. According to Somenath Mitra, professor of the Institute's department of chemistry and environmental sciences the process is so simple that eventually it will be possible to print sheets of solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. "Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."

The process involves using carbon nanotubes as an electron conductor. Nanotubes, a molecular configuration of carbon in a cylindrical shape, are an estimated 50,000 times smaller that a human hair but have properties ideal for collecting solar energy. Size for size, they are a better conductor than copper.

The researchers combined the carbon nanotubes with fullerenes to make snake-like structures. The fullerenes can trap electrons but not conduct them. Sunlight, however, excites the polymers, making the fullerenes seize the electrons. The nanotubes can then conduct the electron flow.

A cheap and readily accessible, user friendly way of generating electricity from sunlight could revolutionise the use of renewable energy. At present the complx and energy intensive manufacturing process, including using expensive silicon which is in limited supply, puts photovoltaic electricity generation out of reach for all but the wealthy.

"Developing organic solar cells from polymers, however, is a cheap and potentially simpler alternative," said Mitra. "We foresee a great deal of interest in our work because solar cells can be inexpensively printed or simply painted on exterior building walls and/or roof tops. Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the engine. The opportunities are endless."

Mitra authored and acted as the lead researcher of the solar cell development. It was featured in the June issue of Journal of Materials Chemistry, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry at Oxford University.

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