Stanford engineers dance with
plasmonics to yield new direction for thin, inexpensive solar cells.
(January 28, 2011) Researchers in solar energy speak of a day
when millions of otherwise fallow square meters of sun-drenched roofs, windows,
deserts and even clothing will be integrated with inexpensive solar cells that
are many times thinner and lighter than the bulky rooftop panels familiar
today.
So, when your iPod is on the nod,
you might plug it into your shirt to recharge. Lost in the Serengeti with a
sapped cell phone? No problem; rolled in your backpack is a lightweight solar
pad. Sailing the seven seas and your GPS needs some juice? Hoist a solar sail
and be one with the gods of geosynchronous orbit.
It is not hard to envision a time
when such technologies will be ubiquitous in our increasingly energy-hungry
lives. That day may come a bit sooner thanks to a multidisciplinary team of
Stanford engineers led by Mike McGehee, Yi Cui and Mark Brongersma, and joined
by Michael Graetzel at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).