New Zealand Researchers Experiment with Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 04. 6.07
In '05, Tim took note of Australian company Dyesol, which has been working on the development of titanium dioxide solar cells for over a decade. It appears that something of a race towards this technology is developing "Down Under," as Massey University's Nanomaterials Research Centre (New Zealand) has released news about its own research to "enable New Zealanders to generate electricity from sunlight at a 10th of the cost of current silicon-based photo-electric solar cells." The Centre's Dr. Wayne Campbell and colleagues have developed a range of colored dyes that can be used in "dye-sensitized solar cells." According to Science Daily,
The synthetic dyes are made from simple organic compounds closely related to those found in nature. The green dye Dr Campbell (pictured) is synthetic chlorophyll derived from the light-harvesting pigment plants use for photosynthesis.Other dyes being tested in the cells are based on haemoglobin, the compound that give blood its colour.
Dr Campbell says that unlike the silicon-based solar cells currently on the market, the 10x10cm green demonstration cells generate enough electricity to run a small fan in low-light conditions – making them ideal for cloudy climates. The dyes can also be incorporated into tinted windows that trap to generate electricity.
Campbell and team are also touting the superiority of the titanium-based cells used with the dyes, as the material is "plentiful, renewable and non-toxic," and also doesn't require the expensive and energy-intensive refinement of silicon.
Like Dyesol, the New Zealanders still have to test their dyes in commercially-viable materials like roofing tiles and wall panels.
Of course, we're rooting for both teams, and others working to develop third-generation solar cells that could eliminate the cost premiums associated with current products. If cost predictions are accurate, it's hard to imagine a reason why consumers wouldn't make the switch to solar. ::Science Daily via chr4 at Hugg
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2 questions,
1) How durable will these be? I've heard of "printed" solar cells that are made out of paper or plastic that should be much cheaper too. Will they rival the several-decade lifetime of silicon cells?
2) How efficient are they in terms of watts/sq. meter of collecting surface. Especially in urban settings using 10x the collecting surface is simply not an option, even if the individual cells themselves are drastically cheaper.
Solar cells made from organic materials are not particularly durable or efficient today. Some rough comparisons:
- Most standard solar cells made from bulk silicon will last 20 years and are above 15% efficiency. Efficiencies as high as 35-40% have been shown in the lab.
- The best dye-sensitized cell made in the lab that I'm aware of have less than 5% efficiency and last a few hundred hours.
These kinds of cells will probably be best for portable applications such as cell phone chargers, because they won't last that long, won't provide a lot of power, but will be thin and light weight. Maybe they can get the efficiencies and lifetime higher, but it will be a _very_ long time before that happens (think 20 years or more). That's not to say that people shouldn't work on this technology, just don't think of it as a short-term solution or magic bullet.
This article answers your questions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sensitized_solar_cells
- Dye-sensitized solar cells already achieve at least 10 years of lifetime.
- G24 Innovations already produces them
- The dye the treehugger-article writes about already has an efficiency of 7.1 percent
The sad thing about this is that every country on the planet that is working with nano-tech is far ahead of the US.
We've become a 3rd world 21st century nation.
I wonder...could these Dye-sensitized solar cells replace ordinary windows? Like skyscraper ?
If so then i think this is efficient enough in my opinion..dont u think?