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Page added on February 4, 2012
Raising the Efficiency of Solar Cells
There’s a cottage industry in solar research involving the manipulation of quantum dots. Solar cells using these tiny particles of semiconductors are much less expensive to produce than traditional ones, because they can be made using simple chemical reactions. And scientists for a number of years now have been drawn to their ability to harvest invisible, infrared light in addition to visible light.
Alas, for the most part nobody’s been able to fully exploit the possibilities these nanomaterials offer—until, perhaps, now. The potential breakthrough comes from a team made up of scientists from the University at Buffalo, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The university reports the researchers found that by “employing selective doping so that quantum dots within the solar cell have a significant built-in charge,” they could increase the efficiency of solar cells up to 45 percent.
Howzit work? Like this: Quantum dots have a tendency to create what the researchers call “a channel of recombination for electrons.” That is, they grab moving electrons and keep them from contributing to electric current. But by building in a charge, the quantum dots repel electrons, basically giving them no choice but to join in the electricity-generating fun.
3 Comments on "Raising the Efficiency of Solar Cells"
BillT on Sun, 5th Feb 2012 1:11 am
I expect the efficiency of PV to increase until it reaches it’s practical limits. It may be a bridge to a different lifestyle, but, not one that allows us to continue life as usual in the Western world. A list of materials and how they come into being for even one panel would take a small book to describe. Every step along the way takes energy, mostly from oil. We may build many square miles of these panels, but eventually we will have no way to replace them when they ‘wear out’. In the mean time, it will allow some of us to live off the grid and in places not serviced by corporate electric.
Kenz300 on Sun, 5th Feb 2012 5:51 am
I expect the cost of solar panels to continue to fall and the efficiency to continue to increase. It will be like computers or LED TV’s. They were very expensive when they first came out and the prices dropped every year until now they are inexpensive commodities. The cost of solar has dropped by 50% in the last 5 years.(2006-2011) It will be interesting to see what advancements the next few years can bring.
Arthur on Sun, 5th Feb 2012 4:05 pm
@Kenz300 In the eighties I bought a HP3 printer for 5000 Dutch guilders, that is 3000$. Now I can buy a printer/fax/scanner/copier for less than 100$. Likewise a MS-DOS desktop PC, also for 5000 guilders. Nowadays you can buy desktops for 400$, spectacular outperforming the old computers in processing speed, graphics and storage.
The energy future is still open and anything between collapse and business-as-usual is possible.