Taking Solar
Technology Up a Notch
New
inexpensive, environmentally friendly solar cell shines with potential
EVANSTON,
Ill. --- The limitations of conventional and current solar cells include high
production cost, low operating efficiency and durability, and many cells rely
on toxic and scarce materials. Northwestern University researchers have
developed a new solar cell that, in principle, will minimize all of these solar
energy technology limitations.
In
particular, the device is the first to solve the problem of the Grätzel cell, a
promising low-cost and environmentally friendly solar cell with a significant
disadvantage: it leaks. The dye-sensitized cell’s electrolyte is made of an
organic liquid, which can leak and corrode the solar cell itself.
Grätzel
cells use a molecular dye to absorb sunlight and convert it to electricity,
much like chlorophyll in plants. But the cells typically don’t last more than
18 months, making them commercially unviable. Researchers have been searching
for an alternative for two decades.
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