Screen-Printed Solar Cells Come in a Variety of Colors and Patterns, Ideal for Building
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 02. 1.08
Keen on solar cells but worried about how to integrate them with your new ensemble? Fear not: a new type of screen-printed solar cells promises to come in a wide variety of colors and patterns, allowing you to tailor them to your individual demands - perfect for that home/room you're designing. As reported in ScienceDaily, the cells can even be incorporated into windows, simultaneously providing shading and generating electricity.
The semi-transparent solar modules combine the use of a special organic dye (similar to the one developed by scientists in New Zealand) and nanoparticles that allow for the conversion of sunlight into electricity. The current prototypes are amber in color, but it is possible to produce them in other ones; in addition, images or text can be directly printed on them. While they may be easier to integrate into building designs, their main drawback - compared to conventional silicon-based cells - is their low efficiency: only about 4%.
The electricity-producing film within the solar module is created with nanoparticles; it is inserted between two glass panes using a screen-printing technique and kept sealed in with glass frit. Initial fatigue tests have demonstrated that the cells can endure several thousand hours of wear and tear.
Though still in its early stages, the solar module, developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in collaboration with several industry partners, will be presented this year in Tokyo at the annual Nanotech 2008 trade fair.
Image courtesy of Fraunhofer ISE
Via ::ScienceDaily: Screen-printed Solar Cells In Many Colors And Designs, Even Used In Windows (news website)
See also: ::New Zealand Researchers Experiment with Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, ::Paint-on Solar Cells
Inefficient at generating electricity, but if I hang it in front of a south-facing window I'll get shade and electricity! What a bargain!
That would be a much less attractive option for opaque solar panels.
In addition to the stained-glass southern-facing window, these would probably be good for awnings as well.
Or venetian blinds.
4%?
That sounds super low...
what is normal?
it is silly things like this that make the green movement look like a bunch of intellectual pantywaists
@Trev
Silicon solar panels (mono and poly crystalline) range between 12 and 22% efficient. The theoretical limit for silicon is ~30%
Multi-junction solar cells (such as gallium-arsenide) are capable of efficiencies of ~40% using high concentrations (I believe the most efficient demonstrated to date was from the University of Delaware and exhibited ~44.7% efficiency under ~20x concentration).
From a research standpoint reaching 10% efficiency is like a holy grail for solar cells when you are forming new designs and concepts. Seeing as how cars are around 20% efficient, 4-10% is not bad for a single stage solar cell.
@scott -- It's not the fault of the green movement that people demand solar cells that are "pretty". Things like this must be done if PV is ever to go mainstream and be widely used by architects and designers. Don't believe me? Go ask an architect why he doesn't use more solar PV.
It's always good to remind other downsides of these solutions.
What it to manufacture these item?
Not only from the cost point of view, but from the enviromental point of view...
As far as I am concerned, efficiency is mostly irrelevant. $/watt is VERY important, and unless I run out of roof space, or the efficiency is so low as to consume a lot of resources I am not as concerned with efficiency.