Cheapest Solar Cells By Berkeley Lab Scientists

Maximizing the efficiency and working capacity of a solar cell is the dream of every other scientist. In the present era we of course need energy efficient solar batteries however their capacity was mainly limited because of high costs associated with it. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley laboratory have developed a new type of battery that can provide economical solution to people there by leaving no dearth to solar power generation.

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Schematic shows how to make core/shell nanowire solar cell starting from left with a CdS nanowire (green) that is dipped in CuCl where cation exchange reaction creates a Cu2S shell coating (brown). Metal contacts are then deposited on the CdS core and Cu2S shell. (Image courtesy of Yang, et. al)

We all know the limitations of solar energy. The main reason is the unreliable nature of the source. Peidong Yang, a researcher in the project and lead author of their paper published in Nature Nanotechnology titled #-Link-Snipped-# has now provided us with a solution. The Co-authors are Jinyao Tang, Ziyang Huo, Sarah Brittman and Hanwei Gao.

The research is first of its kind. The reason being it is a solution based on Cation exchange chemistry technique to produce single-crystalline cadmium sulfide/copper sulfide core/shell nanowires which form the basic components of cell. The technique of making economical solar cells revolves around these primary constituents. When we combine many such nanowires together we get solar cells which are comparable to the conventional solar panels.

Until now, the work was limited due to the ineffectiveness and inefficient nanowires. So even after being high on processing cost people would have to switch but naturally to silicon panels. However after the new technique is developed, this has become relatively easy. The cadmium sulfide core nanowires reportedly show an energy conversion factor of 5.4% comparable to normal solar panel but still at a much cheaper rate.

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This scanning electron microscopy image shows three solar cells in series on a single nanowire with the core–shell regions outlined. (Image courtesy of Yang, et. al)

The solar cells which we can see today in market mainly consists of pure silicon wafers which are of a thickness greater than 1/10th of a millimeter this is because absorbing solar energy requires a certain minimum thickness. You can easily cut costs of purifying the silicon wafer once you use Cadmium Sulfide nanowires then thickness is no bar. Yang and his team are using 1D strip of semiconductors with dimensions one thousandth of Human hair and length are around a few millimeters. The new solar cells feature two important advantages. It has better charge collection and separation properties and the other one being the easily available semiconductors.

Yang said-
The initial cadmium sulfide nanowires were synthesized by physical vapor transport using a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism rather than wet chemistry, which gave us better quality material and greater physical length, but certainly they can also be made using solution process.

The nanowires were then processed by immersing them in a solution of copper Chloride for 5-10 seconds which was maintained at 50 degree Celsius. The Berkley scientists are now working on increasing the currently achieved efficiency of the nanowires to see if it can be done by using a high proportion of Copper sulfide.

The cells will prove to be beneficial once we develop feasible means of producing the nanowires and hence the battery. It will be a great step to reduce our carbon footprint because more of the countries will embrace such economical techniques. Does it mean that we talk about the success of Zeitgeist movement?

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