Flexible plastic tape harnesses the solar watt
Thursday, August 14th, 2008This 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
