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Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

This is awesome. Can't wait to get my printer to start printing my very own.....:D
http://www.physorg.com/news103997338.html

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Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels http://www.physorg.com/images/icon-2.gif

  http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/ne...searchersd.jpg NJIT researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels. Credit: New Jersey Institute of Technology

Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets.

 <noscript> http://www.physorg.com/banner/lifesci468x60.gif </noscript> �The process is simple,� said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT�s Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. �Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations.�

�Fullerene single wall carbon nanotube complex for polymer bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells,� featured as the June 21, 2007 cover story of the Journal of Materials Chemistry published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, details the process.

Harvesting energy directly from abundant solar radiation using solar cells is increasingly emerging as a major component of future global energy strategy, said Mitra. Yet, when it comes to harnessing renewable energy, challenges remain. Expensive, large-scale infrastructures such as wind mills or dams are necessary to drive renewable energy sources, such as wind or hydroelectric power plants. Purified silicon, also used for making computer chips, is a core material for fabricating conventional solar cells. However, the processing of a material such as purified silicon is beyond the reach of most consumers.

�Developing organic solar cells from polymers, however, is a cheap and potentially simpler alternative,� said Mitra. �We foresee a great deal of interest in our work because solar cells can be inexpensively printed or simply painted on exterior building walls and/or roof tops. Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the engine. The opportunities are endless. �

 <noscript> http://www.globalspec.com/pix/affili...ar-250x250.gif http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/...ar-250x250.gif </noscript>
The science goes something like this. When sunlight falls on an organic solar cell, the energy generates positive and negative charges. If the charges can be separated and sent to different electrodes, then a current flows. If not, the energy is wasted. Link cells electronically and the cells form what is called a panel, like the ones currently seen on most rooftops. The size of both the cell and panels vary. Cells can range from 1 millimeter to several feet; panels have no size limits.

The solar cell developed at NJIT uses a carbon nanotubes complex, which by the way, is a molecular configuration of carbon in a cylindrical shape. The name is derived from the tube�s miniscule size. Scientists estimate nanotubes to be 50,000 times smaller than a human hair. Nevertheless, just one nanotube can conduct current better than any conventional electrical wire. �Actually, nanotubes are significantly better conductors than copper,� Mitra added.

Mitra and his research team took the carbon nanotubes and combined them with tiny carbon Buckyballs (known as fullerenes) to form snake-like structures. Buckyballs trap electrons, although they can�t make electrons flow. Add sunlight to excite the polymers, and the buckyballs will grab the electrons. Nanotubes, behaving like copper wires, will then be able to make the electrons or current flow.

�Using this unique combination in an organic solar cell recipe can enhance the efficiency of future painted-on solar cells,� said Mitra. �Someday, I hope to see this process become an inexpensive energy alternative for households around the world.�

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Even with less than 1% efficiency this could completely change solar...:bear_w00t:

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

This is great! Paint your roof, aqny south facing walls, your car, and generate power. My favorite night storage remains compressed air because it is simple and long lasting and does not require all the toxicity of battery storage. Though storage as heat in water that then powers a stirling engine powered generator at night would be good too.

The ideas are there and we have bozo wanting to burn corn. We gotta get rid of these clowns.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Now that I have that wet-blanket disclaimer out of the way, I hope this is the good news it seems to be. I also hope that the energy required to produce, maintain, and dispose of these suckers isn't prohibitive.

Small-scale distributed geothermal is already in use, and could make a huge contribution to home heating and cooling. At even 50 feet below the ground, the temperature is constant at around 50 degrees, which means you can exploit the difference with the surface temperature to perform heating or cooling with a relatively modest compressor.

I worked in an office complex with such a system installed. One winter we had a harsh two weeks of cold, and the heating couldn't keep us warm enough: it was working, but only enough to keep us in the mid-60s indoors. It turned out that the gas boiler hadn't been used in two years, so the utility company had assumed it was disconnected and turned off the tap.

Two years of winter heating without using the boiler.

BTW: I'm not attempting a thread-jack here. Just rambling.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Didn't some article like this come out about a year ago? I still had to pay over $5 a watt for my panels. Don't hold your breath.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

I liked it up to the word "nano." Nano is another word for carcinogen, my concern is that this would be abspestos all over again.

News of the weird: some Morgellons suffers have associated their ailment with proximity to nano materials research.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Finally we're seeing the benefits of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. I hope it's legitimate technology.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

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Originally Posted by hoarder (Post 671584)

Didn't some article like this come out about a year ago? I still had to pay over $5 a watt for my panels. Don't hold your breath.

Yep....I agree, hoarder......seen several of these articles over the last several years.......and yet, to date, not one single marketed application of any of them.

Either some power company is buying up the technology, or there a lot of horse manure in the solar biz........and I'm starting to think it's that last one.

I paid over 5 bucks a watt for mine too. These pipe dreams MAY come to pass one day, but we may not have until that day. I'll take the bird in hand, even if a more expensive bird.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Andy,
Another angle; if someone wanted to take a big position in solar companies what better way than to do "puts" on PV manufacturers just before releasing these articles? Beat em down, make a fortune on derivatives, then buy 'em cheap! Making money is easy! Wall Street is fun!

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Stories like this remind me of the "superweapons" the Nazi propagandists claimed they were developing at the close of WWII. Expect more and more of these supposed energy breakthroughs as the US dollar continues to fall and energy costs continue to increase.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

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Even with less than 1% efficiency this could completely change solar...

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This is great! Paint your roof, any south facing walls, your car,

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Didn't some article like this come out about a year ago?

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I liked it up to the word "nano." Nano is another word for carcinogen,

bukyballs are fullerenes or buckminsterfullerenes C60 and C-60....read this wiki blurb:

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Although C60 has been thought in theory to be relatively inert, a presentation given to the American Chemical Society in March 2004 and described in an article in New Scientist on April 3, 2004, suggests the molecule is injurious to organisms. An experiment by Eva Oberd�rster at Southern Methodist University, which introduced fullerenes into water at concentrations of 0.5 parts per million, found that largemouth bass suffered a 17-fold increase in cellular damage in the brain tissue after 48 hours. The damage was of the type lipid peroxidation, which is known to impair the functioning of cell membranes. There were also inflammatory changes in the liver and activation of genes related to the making of repair enzymes. These results have been published in "Environmental Health Perspectives" in July 2004.

Pristine C60 can be suspended in water at low concentrations as large clusters often termed nC60. These clusters are spherical clumps of C60 between 250-350 nm in diameter. Thus, nC60 represents a different chemical entity than solutions of C60 in which the fullerenes exist as individual molecules. Recently, results presented at the ACS meeting in Anaheim, CA suggest that nC60 is moderately toxic to water fleas and juvenile largemouth bass at concentrations in water of around 800 ppb. The first study of its kind on marine life, these preliminary results quickly spread across the scientific community. However, the overwhelming evidence of the essential non-toxicity of C60 (not nC60) in previously peer-reviewed articles of C60 and many of its derivatives indicates that these compounds are likely to have little (if any) toxicity, especially at the very low concentration at which it is≈ used (~1-10 �M).[citation needed]

A study published in December 2005 in Biophysical Journal raises a red flag regarding the safety of C60 when dissolved in water. It reports the results of a detailed computer simulation that finds C60 binds to the spirals in DNA molecules in an aqueous environment, causing the DNA to deform, potentially interfering with its biological functions and possibly causing long-term negative side effects in people and other living organisms.[7]

this stuff is most definately troublesome and toxic in my opinion...and in our throwaway society...:shocked_ma:

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

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The solar cell developed at NJIT uses a carbon nanotubes complex

Oh yeah carbon nanotubes right off my ink-jet printer. :confused_ma:

I'll wait to see the manufactured products spec sheet. Right now this is just a University experiment looking for more money.

Carbon nano-tubes can do lots of very neat things, things that do not generally make it to consumer product because because carbon nano-tubes are so f***ing expensive.
__________________________________________________ _
Separate item, here is an image of gold nanotubes!

http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/ima..._nanotubes.jpg
http://www.primidi.com/2004/01/27.html

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

I've been watching this company very close

www.nanosolar.com

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

It seems like every year I am hearing about some research group promising a great cheap way to produce solar power and revolutionize the industry and.... nothing has changed...

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Re: I've been watching this company very close www.nanosolar.com

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No solution, just finished debunking CIGS (nanosolar, etc).

http://www.doomerporn.com/polestar/?p=52

Basically not enough indium, takes 20kg of indium to make one MW of panel, extrapolate that over our current annual production (400 tonnes) and you realize nanosolar could barely power one city, let alone the world.

Nanosolar - The “technofix” lives to fight another day

http://www.doomerporn.com/polestar/w.../nanosolar.jpgI’ve heard cornucopians talk for a long time about the dream of a mainly solar powered (or any RE/nuclear) society. I label these people “technofixers”, as they believe technology will save us from a collapse. Which is fine, we have slow crashers, hard crashers and technofixers. It’s like a typical strategy game with 3 sides, the problem is the “crashers” have units which can wipe the floor with the technofixers. So they sit around looking like the duds they are in hope that tomorrow when they refresh “energynews.com” they will see the “fix” and then win the game. Now the “nanosolar” company is the recent hope, with companies like Google and IBM getting involved it must be serious… right?

Well you see the problem with nanosolar is one ingredient they need in their panels, indium. Indium is a pretty rare element at about 0.1 parts per million, and 5 years ago it wasn’t even that expensive at about $90/kg. With the advent of LCD monitors and TVs (among many other things) the demand for indium has skyrocketed, reaching a peak of about $1000/kg, and currently sitting at around $700/kg. The worldwide production of indium is around 400 tonnes, give or take a few tonnes, it’s really quite small.

Now I was relatively quiet on nanosolar or any CIGS based solar technology because I never had a stat on how much indium they actually used. I thought it was probably very small, why would everyone jump aboard this stuff if it was doomed to failure? So when I found out that per MEGAWATT of panel produced, nanosolar used 20kg of indium I jumped out of my seat. The reason this is an issue, is because we only produce 400 tonnes of indium per year, and if we devoted all indium production to panel production we could achieve 20GW/year of panels. Not bad, but considering we are currently using around 4000GW, it will take about 20 years of indium supply to replace only 10% of our CURRENT usage, forget any growth, forget new TVs and monitors. http://www.doomerporn.com/polestar/w.../icon_wink.gif

Now that’s not to say we can’t increase indium production. I mean, with a very big increase in price, on the order of $3000-$5000/kg , we could probably raise indium production up to 1000 tonnes a year (I’m being very forgiving to cornucopians here) so it would only take about 8-10 years then to replace 10% of current usage, and we’d still have to go without TVs and whatever else used indium. But hey, I’m sure we can fill deserts with these things and provide enough power to fly to Jupiter, after all 100TW hits the earth every second or something right? http://www.doomerporn.com/polestar/w.../icon_wink.gif

http://www.doomerporn.com/polestar/?p=52

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

DAMN Keehah, way to poop on my parade.

Looks like wind turbines and standard silicon
panels will be the standard for a while.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

What colour will the solar paint be, and how soon will by-laws outlaw that horribly ugly colour from appearing on anyone's house and reducing the property values?

Actually, it is probably a dark non-shiny colour, so we should not allow cars to be painted with it either, or they could run over our kids at night.

Re: Researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels

Right now anything that actually sets families free of the pay the Central Authority every month gets no backing, and sometimes active interference.

If any new tech gets going I am sad to say it will likely be somewhere that escapes control by the ones who want a new feudalism. That means unless we get America shaped up, we will have to import it, if it is even allowed in.

Like the crushing of the great electric cars was a sample of, the powers in the USA want us to burn oil if it kills us and pay them for every calorie, watt and drop of water once a month.