By John Roach
A breakthrough in the chemical formula used to make organic solar cells could turn ordinary windows on the sides of homes and buildings into mini-power plants capable of producing enough electricity to run lights, gadgets, and appliances.
The photovoltaic cells contain organic molecules that harvest infrared light while allowing visible light to pass through. Previous attempts to create transparent solar cells have either had low efficiency — converting less than 1 percent of incoming solar radiation to electricity — or blocked too much visible light, according to the team developing the new cells.
The new prototype organic photovoltaics created at the Center for Excitronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have an efficiency of 1.7 percent while allowing more than 55 percent of the visible light through, according to a paper accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters.
Efficiency gains?
Further development of the technology — optimizing the composition and configuration of the photovoltaic materials — may lead to efficiency of 12 percent, making it comparable to existing solar cells, the researchers note.
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http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/19/6496989-power-up-with-windowsThe entire surface of a car or house could be made into a solar collector. If this can be made cheaply enough.