Innovation Puts Next-Generation Solar Cells on the Horizon

In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.

Scientists at Monash University, in collaboration with colleagues from the universities of Wollongong and Ulm in Germany, have produced tandem dye-sensitised solar cells with a three-fold increase in energy conversion efficiency compared with previously reported tandem dye-sensitised solar cells.

Lead researcher Dr Udo Bach, from Monash University, said the breakthrough had the potential to increase the energy generation performance of the cells and make them a viable and competitive alternative to traditional silicon solar cells.

Dr Bach said the key was the discovery of a new, more efficient type of dye that made the operation of inverse dye-sensitised solar cells much more efficient.

When the research team combined two types of dye-sensitised solar cell — one inverse and the other classic — into a simple stack, they were able to produce for the first time a tandem solar cell that exceeded the efficiency of its individual components.

Read more . . .

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Tags: argonne national laboratory, dr bach, energy conversion efficiency, energy generation, monash university, next generation, next-generation solar cells, photovoltaic system, silicon solar cells, solar cell

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am and is filed under Cutting-edge Research, Innovation, Innovation Needed, Nanotech, Project Energy, Science Digest / Science Daily, Shape of Things to Come?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.