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Organic Solar Cell

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:48:17 +0000

Ninety-Nine percent of the solar panels today are made from a variant of silicon. But it is quite expensive to produce such materials. Solar cells can go for thousands of dollars if you are not careful. But research is going on today to produce flexible solar panels from organic material. In 2004, a research group from the Georgia Institute of Technology had used an organic film, pentacene, can be used to create solar energy. The secret is in the crystal pattern structure of the pentacene molecules. It allows the electricity to flow through the system easier.

The efficiency of the organic solar cells are low, however. As of today, the most efficient organic solar cell is 6% efficient. Although, one big advantage organic solar cells have over it’s counter part is that organic solar cells are very flexible, and can be placed on rounded surfaces. However, because of the huge costs of silicon, organic solar cells can give you more energy for your money. Listen to Professor Lee Kwang-Hee, director of the Gwanju Institute, which has developed the most efficient organic solar cell in the world: “It takes 2 U.S. dollars to generate 1 watt of electric power if you use silicon solar cells, Only 10 U.S. cents will be enough to generate 1 watt if you use this tandem polymer solar cell.”

So, if you want a Kilowatt of power with organic cells, it would cost only $10, compared to $2000 with traditional solar panels. This is a huge savings. However, as of right now, there are only a few companies producing these organic solar cells. Of course, the more competition, the better deal the consumer can get from the producer. Organic solar cells are not in the far off future; they’re here today, and now. Please show your support for solar cells, by visiting this site for more information. http://www.dnp.co.jp/index_e.html

Solar Cell Efficiency

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:46:11 +0000

The are a lot of variables that must be taken into account when determining how efficient your solar power panel is. Ultimately, the average efficiency is held at around 12%. But there are many different ways in which to measure the efficiency. There’s Quantum Efficiency, Max power point, Thermodynamic Efficiency, and fill factor.

Quantum Efficiency is measuring the amount of photons of light that actually become electricity. There are 2 stages to this: an external and internal process. The External Quantum Efficiency (EQE) measures the amount of light that was reflected and not absorbed, either because of a bad angle, or dirt on the panel, or for some other reason. Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE) measures the amount of light actually absorbed through the system. So technically, the IQE should always be smaller than the EQE.

There are many more ways to measure efficiency, such as the maximum power at a specific current and voltage. However, the most important way in which solar panels are efficient is how much they save you. Over the lifetime of energy provided by a solar panel, you make back more energy than it costs to buy from a power company. In other words, no matter what the cost is on the solar panel, in the long run you are saving money, and the planet.

Dye Solar Cell

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:44:59 +0000

The main problem with most solar cells is they’re cost. They are one of the most expensive alternative energy systems available today. However, there is a new technology being built today, called Dye Solar Cells. They are on the cutting edge of technology. They are an extreme jump ahead in solar cell efficiency. But most importantly, they are less expensive by orders of magnitude.

Normal solar cells are created with silicon, which does 2 jobs at once. It captures the photons from the sunlight, and it converts it into electricity. But silicon can only capture a limited amount of energy throughout the UV range. So, the secret to Dye Solar Cells is that they’re coated with a layer of photosensitive dye, which will pick up light that carries a much higher energy rate, such as ultraviolet light.

Also, the efficiency of these Dye Solar Cells is huge. The normal solar cell is about %6, maybe even less efficient. The efficiency is around 90%. That’s right. We’ve gone from almost no energy, to almost all of it. This is the biggest step we’ve had in solar cell technology ever, and there might not be another quantum leap of such proportions ever again.

Finally, the selling point, the price. The price is magnitudes smaller than everything else on the market. While older Solar Cells use a huge plate of platinum, the dye solar cells used an extremely thin layer of platinum. The new dye solar cells are reportedly so easy to produce, that homemade assembly from scratch is very reasonable.

These Dye Solar Cells are ready to be produced, but they haven’t been picked up by any companies yet. This is the way of the future people! We need to demand that dye solar cells be mass produced.

Amorphous Solar Cell

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:43:36 +0000

Amorphous Solar Cells are the most popular type of solar cells in use today. These are the everyday solar cells, that you’ll probably buy if you get one today. They use the “p-n junction”, which take the photons of light, and through some chemistry, with some really complex molecules (pentacene, if you’re a scientist), a electrons transfer between 2 sides, and a electric current is produced.

The top layer is simply glass, but as you go deeper down, you hit the absorbent silicon layer, and then finally hit the back end, which is where you add your wires to the very back of, and then it’s just a matter of hooking up the solar panel to your energy system.
Of course, the main reason that you want to buy a Amorphous solar cell, is because they are the cheapest in the world. You can get a small solar panel, which will power about %30-%50 of your house, for under $150. That’s an average of course, but unless you live in the middle of the jungle, you should see a huge drop in your energy bills.
There are many different sites you can visit if you want some reasonably priced Solar Panels. solarpanelstore.com is a very comprehensive site, that gives you many different options, from small, household solar panels, to large powering systems for large corporations. solarhome.org takes a more utilitarian approach, offering a large variety of products for around the house. Finally, solarpanelinfo.com is a great source of information on production, installation, and research into solar panels.

Solar Energy is not a thing of the past

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:15:28 +0000

Solar panels have been in the news and “the next big thing” for 20 years now. Many people have given up on them, and the as they fall out of public interest, funding for solar panels dries up. We are still a long ways off from true solar power, people. We can not let solar power be a thing of the past, as the age of solar power is just beginning. We have solar power plants that can power a bunch of suburban neighborhoods. And the best is still yet to come! If we can’t harness the energy of the sun soon, we’ll be in a losing senario. If we have to continue putting research into solar panels, we’ll have a field of solar panels that will power multiple cities simulatniously. Don’t think that just because solar panels are not as new as Bio Fuels, that they have no potential.

What are solar panels?

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:57:54 +0000

Although the first solar cell was built in 1883, the modern day application of solar cells was not discovered until 1954 in Bell Labratories, where it was found that a Silicon based semiconductor was sensitive to light. They have since been used to power a multitude of purposes from fueling rockets, to fueling traffic lights.

A solar panel is basically just run on a chemical raction. The panels are basically just Silicon with some impurities, which when hit by light, excites the molecules, and the electrons shoot off, creating electricity through the silicon. You can build panels in all shapes and sizes, and right now the record for solar efficency is around %40. That is, we are only gaining %40 of the energy we could gain at any panel at any time.