Solar Nanotechnology Heats Up in Boston College Breakthrough
Boston College researchers have made another breakthrough in solar power technology. They’ve found a way to use super-thin solar cells to capture hot electrons. As the name implies, hot electrons carry an exceptional amount of kinetic energy in the form of heat. Unfortunately, that heat burns off very quickly upon striking the solar cell, making hot electrons elusive for solar cell researchers.
The BC scientists basically gave the electrons less room to travel. According to Krzysztof Kempa, professor of Physics and lead author of the paper explaining the nanotechnology, their solar cells simply capture the electrons closer to the surface of the solar cell. Hot electrons, says Kempa, must be grabbed in less than one-trillionth of a second.
When an electron strikes a cell, the photons excite electrons in the upper stratus of the cell. These electrons must make it to the bottom of a conduction band to be captured and converted into electric current. Hot electrons’ energy dissipates so fast that they lose most of their energy as heat in the process. To date, solar cells have been unable to harness their potential.
BC researchers may have solved the problem with a super-thin solar cell less than 30 nanometers thick. It captures these electrons before they cool. To offer some perspective, 30 nanometers is thirty-billionths of a meter.
Their super-thin solar cells exhibited 3% conversion efficiencies, relatively high for 3rd-generation solar technology. The immediate downside is that light-absorbing qualities of the cells are limited because they are ultra-thin, the very reason they can capture hot electrons. However, the addition of better light-absorbing materials, such as nanowires, could solve that problem.
Via ScienceDaily
Photo Credit: BC.edu
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Posted on December 18th in Solar Research by Dan.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I am an individual, not a corporation. Enthused about solar or wind power, I purchased 38 acres in Hawaii, the Big Island, on the ocean, and adjoining a power plant, (HELCO), approximately 1/2 mile from a school, hospital, and local community. (Honokaa). The property also adjoins a water treatment plant.
The property is flat, has constant winds for a wind power farm, as well as sunshine almost all year round. I had intended to look into the possibility of building a wind or solar farm on the premises. The property was recently appraised slightly in excess of $3,000,000. It is paid for in full, no encumbrances. Regrettably I have just been diagnosed with a serious cancer, life threatening. I would like to know if you have any reliable sources I might contact to whom I might make the property available to, (I am willing to finance) or sources that might consider partnering a venture with my estate. The local officials are definitely in favor of the project. Thank you.
Dr. Arnold Mahler 714-647-1986