Long-life solar cells
There’s a story in New Scientist, Long-life solar cells.
Polymer solar cells used to convert sunlight to electricity are degraded by ultraviolet light, which limits their lifespan.
Yang Yang, a materials scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, has a simple solution. He suggests coating the solar cell with a material that converts ultraviolet photons into ones of visible light.
The new “photon conversion material” (PCM) converts harmful UV into longer wavelengths, enhancing efficiency of solar-energy conversion and reducing damage to cells. This should help the solar cells last longer, as well as increase their electrical yield.
The PCM could be made of a liquid, a gel, nanoparticles or a solid, the researchers say. In experiments, they added the polymer blue polyfluorene to solar cells and found that it did indeed reduce the damage caused by UV light.
The full plastic solar cell patent application makes for interesting reading. — DS
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