Researchers have succeeded in obtaining an efficiency of over six per cent from plastic solar cells.
While this might not sound like much, it is
a big leap as the efficiency achieved up until 2005 was three per cent for plastic cells, while traditional solar panels convert about 12 per cent of the light that hits them to useful electrical power.
The researchers at Wake Forest University’s Centre for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials in the US achieved the efficiency by creating ‘nano-filaments’ within light absorbing plastic. This allowed for thicker absorbing layers in the devices which can capture more of the sun’s light.
“Within only two years we have more than doubled the three per cent mark,” said David Carroll, director of the centre. “I fully expect to see higher numbers within the next two years, which may make plastic devices the photovoltaic of choice.”
Carroll expects an efficiency of ten per cent to be reached in the next year when it will then be considered a
viable technology for commercial use.