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Polymer Photovoltaics
(see also PolyMers & ) a potentially cheaper alternative to solar energyUniversity of Toronto
New plastic can better convert solar energy
Canadian Press
TORONTO — Researchers at the University of Toronto have invented an
infrared-sensitive material that's five times more efficient at turning
the sun's power into electrical energy than current methods
Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
January 14, 2005
Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the
sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.
The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the first
solar cells able to harness the sun's invisible, infrared rays.
The breakthrough has led theorists to predict that plastic
solar cells could one day become five times more efficient
than current solar cell technology.
And the film can turn 30% of the sun's power into usable electrical energy -
a far better performance than the 6% gleaned from the best plastic solar cells now in use.
"The fact that these materials harness the sun's energy using flexible materials potentially could
allow you to weave the plastics into fibres, sort of the way we have synthetic fibres already,
and to weave those into clothing and make something that's a wearable solar cell," Sargent said from Boston, where he is currently working. Contact: Professor Edward H. Sargent, Nortel Networks – Canada Research Chair in Emerging Technologies, (416) 946-5051; e-mail: ted.sargent@utorontoNOSPAM.ca "The sun that reaches the Earth's surface delivers 10,000 times more energy than we consume," said Ted Sargent, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Toronto. Sargent is one of the inventors of the new plastic material. "If we could cover 0.1 percent of the Earth's surface with [very efficient] large-area solar cells," he said, "we could in principle replace all of our energy habits with a source of power which is clean and renewable."
-- RachelWingfield - 15 Jun 2006
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