Solar Nanotechology

Las weekend the International Conference on Climate Change, celebrated in Nairobi, concluded. Once again it manifested the growing effort, with more or less intensity, made by the scientific and social communities with the intention of lowering the effects of earth’s global warming. Solar energy continues being one of the most interesting alternatives, against the polluting energies based on fossil fuels.

The use of Nanotechology achieved the optimizing of the response of the devices used in the conversion of solar energy into electric energy. During the last years more efficient solar cells had been developed, smaller and with less expensive production costs, in a near future those devices are supposed to substitute the ones made of silicon. The discovery of the electric conduction properties of organic polymers allowed the creation of photovoltaic organic plastic devices, extremely thin and cheap, with a simple great scale synthesis process. Recently, researches made by the group of Alivisatos in the University of Berkeley achieved a new step in the evolution of photovoltaic systems, getting to build solar cells with inorganic nanocrystals. In the article published by the famous scientific magazine Science, the authors describe the way 2 different kinds of nanometric semiconductor crystals are used (CdSe y CdTe) in shape of nanosticks.

They are synthesized separately, and deposited in a dissolution form on a subtract of crystal conductive. Thin solar cells are as cheap and easy to build as the ones based on organic polymers, also the have a bigger amount of storage capacity, a better optical response, and they stay stable in the air because they are made of inorganic material, which improves their functionality. This new solar cells have a 3% efficiency in converting solar energy into electric, it is real that they improved the response of earlier organic solar cells, but it is still insufficient facing the 15% response of the silicon solar cells (whose production happened to be more expensive)

Progressively, research works like the one made by M.D.Law or E.H.Sargent, optimized the development and efficiency of solar cells, using new nanomaterialsas composites or nanostructured crystals. That is how photovoltaic covering, spray solar cells or wide solar energy conversion ratio devices may be developed, helping them to function even on a cloudy day.

At the moment, we dream about functional solar cells installed over any kind of surface, facades, tile roofs, cars, clothing, working as a source of transportable wireless.

Share and Enjoy: