# 18706 byValens Agnitio on Dec. 3, 2003, 9:49 p.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
Some interesting news for PV's.
# 18707 byvictoriatangoman on Dec. 4, 2003, 2:29 a.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
--- In ssi_list@... "Valens Agnitio"
> Some interesting news for PV's.
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031203080313.htm
>
Crystals are very ordered groupings of atoms. Combining two or more
crystal structures produces dislocation effects where the atomic
ordering of the two crystalline materials don't match up.
The article mentioned that they use electron microscopes to search
for the dislocation effects. I wonder how they're going to make this
cost effective on a masss produced scale?
TangoMan
# 18708 byPaul D. Fernhout on Dec. 4, 2003, 6:44 a.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
Or this one (linked from that page):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030912072254.htm
Envision Mass-produced Rolls Of Material That Converts Sunlight To
Electricity
...
The new photovoltaics are made from "organic" materials, which consist
of small carbon-containing molecules, as opposed to the conventional
inorganic, silicon-based materials. The materials are ultra-thin and
flexible and could be applied to large surfaces.
Organic solar cells could be manufactured in a process something like
printing or spraying the materials onto a roll of plastic, said Peter
Peumans, a graduate student in the lab of electrical engineering
professor Stephen Forrest. "In the end, you would have a sheet of solar
cells that you just unroll and put on a roof," he said.
...
The cells also could be made in different colors, making them attractive
architectural elements, Peumans said. Or they could be transparent so
they could be applied to windows. The cells would serve as tinting,
letting half the light through and using the other half to generate
power, he said.
...
"We think we have pathway for using this and other tricks to get to 10
percent reasonably quickly," Forrest said.
By comparison, conventional silicon chip-based solar cells are about 24
percent efficient. "Organic solar cells will be cheaper to make, so in
the end the cost of a watt of electricity will be lower than that of
conventional materials," said Peumans.
...
# 18709 byvictoriatangoman on Dec. 4, 2003, 8:01 a.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
--- In ssi_list@... "Paul D. Fernhout"
>
> Organic solar cells could be manufactured in a process something
> like printing or spraying the materials onto a roll of plastic,
advance the case for SPS? LOL.
All we need is a thin mylar sheet and we can spray the PV material
onto it. We could just launch all those materials and not worry
about orbital manufacturing. It'll be more robust in orbit than on
Earth because there is no weather to contend with in orbit.
> "We think we have pathway for using this and other tricks to get
> to 10 percent reasonably quickly," Forrest said.
>
> By comparison, conventional silicon chip-based solar cells are
> about 24 percent efficient. "Organic solar cells will be cheaper
> to make, so in the end the cost of a watt of electricity will be
> lower than that of conventional materials," said Peumans.
Again, thanks for providing supporting evidence on behalf of SPS. At
24% efficiency, the solar arrays are already taking too much space
for households to make good use of them. Now, even though this
vaporware is projected to be cheaper, it'll need 2.5x more space.
Hmmm, why don't we just take Criswell's idea of robotic PV
manufacture and pave all of our deserts. That could be cheap too.
The future of solar power is in orbit.
TangoMan