[Spisivavona]

Transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity
August 1, 2012



Scientists are reporting development of a new transparent solar cell, an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their report appears in the journal ACS Nano.





Yang Yang, Rui Zhu, Paul S. Weiss and colleagues explain that there has been intense world-wide interest in so-called polymer solar cells (PSCs), which are made from plastic-like materials. PSCs are lightweight and flexible and can be produced in high volume at low cost. That interest extends to producing transparent PSCs. However, previous versions of transparent PSCs have had many disadvantages, which the team set out to correct.

They describe a new kind of PSC that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells 66 percent transparent to the human eye. They made the device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current. Another breakthrough is the transparent conductor made of a mixture of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which was able to replace the opaque metal electrode used in the past. This composite electrode also allowed the solar cell to be fabricated economically by solution processing. The authors suggest the panels could be used in smart windows or portable electronics.

More information: “Visibly Transparent Polymer Solar Cells Produced by Solution Processing” ACS Nano, Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/nn3029327



Abstract


Visibly transparent photovoltaic devices can open photovoltaic applications in many areas, such as building-integrated photovoltaics or integrated photovoltaic chargers for portable electronics. We demonstrate high-performance, visibly transparent polymer solar cells fabricated via solution processing. The photoactive layer of these visibly transparent polymer solar cells harvests solar energy from the near-infrared region while being less sensitive to visible photons. The top transparent electrode employs a highly transparent silver nanowire–metal oxide composite conducting film, which is coated through mild solution processes. With this combination, we have achieved 4% power-conversion efficiency for solution-processed and visibly transparent polymer solar cells. The optimized devices have a maximum transparency of 66% at 550 nm.






http://phys.org/news/2012-08-transpa...ectricity.html

[arindiruppyr]

Very cool. But:

The optimized devices have a maximum transparency of 66% at 550 nm.

So how transparent is that? Will they look tinted? Or far darker?

[Soresbox]

Scientists are reporting development of a new transparent solar cell, an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity

The last thing I want is sunlight pouring through a window in the summer.

And the house eaves would prevent most of the days sunlight hitting the windows in any case.

where else could this technology be practical?

[arindiruppyr]

where else could this technology be practical?

High rise office buildings? Floors and floors of glass windows with no eaves.

Smart phones that charge themselves while you use them out in the sun?

[Soresbox]

High rise office buildings? Floors and floors of glass windows with no eaves.
Yes, they could use the power generated to run the aircon.

[cemDrymnVem]

Yes, they could use the power generated to run the aircon. of course seeing that you can't open windows for obvious safety reasons.

[usaguedriedax]

Sunglasses that power you MP3 player?