However, silicon panels are energy-intensive to produce,
heavy and inflexible. Research groups around the world are working on
alternatives based on flexible ‘organic’ materials – plastics – that can be
printed from inks. This research could lead to transparent solar modules in
windows, as well as large scale electricity-generators or even integration into
clothing.
Organic solar materials offer a lot of promise, but there
are still challenges to overcome before they can compete with silicon panels.
For example, solar cells made from organic ‘perovskite’ materials have poor
stability – the cells often break down in sunlight in a matter of hours – and
include toxic elements like lead.
PhD student Andrew Wadsworth, from the Department of
Chemistry at Imperial, is part of a team developing organic solar cells. Hayley
Dunning talked to him about how they are tackling the obstacles and improving
device performance.
Read the STRN
story - “Alternative Solar Cells Ramp up Efficiency and Stability.”
