Minuscule Solar Cells Successfully Tested

University of South Florida researchers have scaled down solar cells to near infinitesimal size. Led by Xiaomei Jiang, these scientists successfully produced 7.8 volts of electricity from a group of 20 solar cells that amount to an inch-long array. Each cell is about a quarter the size of a lowercase “o” in standard 12-point font.

The solar cells, made of an organic polymer, are being tested as a power source for even smaller microscopic machines that can detect chemical leaks. The 7.8 volts achieved is roughly half the power needed to run the device. According to Xiaomei Jiang, the next step is to increase the voltage and then combine the tiny solar array with carbon nanotube chemical sensors that are part of the microelectromechanical system (MEMS). She believes that her team will achieve this goal by the end of the year.

This research is part of an industry-wide push to develop these polymer solar cells. Jiang and other researchers in the field believe that these cells have much more potential than the traditional silicon-based cells which dominate the current market. Polymer cells – also called organic or plastic solar cells – are much more flexible and could be dissolved into paint or even a spray.

As Jiang points out, “They could be sprayed onto any surface that is exposed to sunlight – a uniform, a car, a house.”

The full report by Xiaomei Jiang is published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE).

Posted on November 20th in Solar News by Dan.