Flexible plastic tape harnesses the solar watt
This isn’t new but I thought it’s an interesting use of the solar watt:
A US firm, Konarka, has developed a flexible thin-film photovoltaic tape that uses a layer of dye-activated titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles and can be mass produced on a roll-to-roll process. Light passes through a clear layer to reach a conductive electrode layer. The photons react with the dye, releasing electrons into the semiconducting titanium dioxide network, which then connects to a counter electrode.
Konarka claims that its solar watt tape works well in low-light conditions and under artificial light. Whilst the initial product has a 5% photon to electron conversion efficiency, they are nearing 12% efficiency in the lab. The tape can also be coloured or patterned to resemble normal roofing material or military camouflage.
This could be to solar power watt OLED (organic light emitting diode) is to flat screen panels!
For more information, go here:
http://optics.org/cws/article/articles/20104
Tags: solar cost, solar power, solar price, solar watt
April 28th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I saw a show about this on TV and got excited. Being at the bottom of the economic food chain, for various reasons, an eco-friendly lifestyle is difficult to pursue (though not impossible with a lot of effort). Energy efficiency is difficult to manage on a minimal budget. The initial start up costs for nearly any DIY co2 reducing/waste reduction project is more than most of the lower middle class can afford these days. In the same breath, we can’t afford not to do these things. Locally the cost of electricity is nearly as much as rents. Though my family has done what we can to conserve energy, we are limited in what we are allowed to do by our landlord. We are forced to settle for old water heaters, 15+ year old appliances, Inefficient heating sources, poor insulation, single pane/ improperly sealed windows…and the list goes on. Still, with careful conservation, our electric bill is still nearly half of our rent …the second biggest expense we have. I can’t imagine the cost if we had electric heat. Seeing this new technology gives me hope that those who would reap the greatest benefit from it may actually be able to afford it soon. (now there’s a stimulus package we can live with!). Do you know if anyone has considered the have-nots and availability of affordable energy to them? It would be great if they could package this technology and put it into nice, neat, portable, and affordable packaging that we could plug in and move to our next rental so we also can get on board with the rest of the world. Consider the fact that a majority of families in this nation rent their homes. -the forgotten many-
May 1st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Like any new technology, the developers have to price their products to recover their R&D and setup costs. So initial prices are usually expensive but, if early adopters jump on board and prove that there’s a viable market, they can scale up and afford to reduce prices. Also, other companies see what’s going on and either license the technology or design their product slightly differently so they don’t infringe on the original developer’s patents and therefore create competition. The only other way to reduce prices is for the government to subsidize some of these projects.
If you don’t mind DIY projects, there are cheaper alternatives (like the one I’ve linked to on the “Make Electricity” banner). They’re not “off the shelf” products that you can just buy and then have up and running just by flicking a switch. However, it has full simple instructions and uses “off the shelf” products to make them.