Cheap High-Efficiency Solar Cells on the Horizon

Updated 1:22 PM PDT, Mon, Jan 26, 2009

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National Weather Service

UCLA researchers believe they have taken one step closer to creating high-efficiency solar cells using cheap plastic with a dash of silicon, it was reported Saturday.

The research team says it wants easy-to-use plastic solar energy cells to be sold at local hardware stores, and then hung like posters on the wall.

Researchers at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science describe the design and synthesis of a new plastic, or polymer, for use in solar cells that has significantly greater sunlight absorption and conversation than previous polymers, according to the school's Web site.

"We hope that solar cells will one day be as thin as paper and be attached to the surface of your choice," said co-author Hsiang-Yu Chen, a UCLA graduate student in engineering. "We'll also be able to create different colors to match different applications."

The research team found that substituting a silicon atom for carbon atom in the backbone of the plastic markedly improved the material's photovoltaic properties.

The new polymer solar cells use organic compounds to produce electricity from sunlight, are much easier to produce than traditional silicon-based solar cells and are also environmentally friendly.

"Previously, the synthesizing process for the polymer was very complicated. We've been able to simplify the process and make it much easier to mass produce," said Jianhui Hou, UCLA postdoctoral researcher and co-author of the study. "Though this is a milestone achievement, we will continue to work on improving the materials ... Ideally, we'd like to push the performance of the solar cell to higher than 10 percent efficiency. We know the potential is there."

The team unveiled its discovery in the Nov. 26 edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Study. The study was funded by Solamer Energy Inc and a UC Discovery Grant.

Solar Energy Inc. has recently licensed the technology from UCLA for commercialization, the school said.