Plastic solar cells

Researchers at the Wake Forest University have succeeded in manufacturing solar cells of plastic which have an efficiency of slightly over 6 per cent.

The problem presently used solar cells have is that they are made of silicon, which is an extremely bulky and inflexible. They are also very expensive. In order to counter these problems, researchers have to working hard to create cells out of inexpensive organic materials that can be even wound around circular surfaces.

Up until now, the cells made of plastic could only provide an efficiency of up to 3 per cent. This was way too low as compared to the 12 per cent efficiency that silicon cells provide.

Great strides have been made in research relating to solar cells. Clearly, this progress can be linked to the urgent need to find an alternate source of energy that is cheaper and pollution free.

Solar energy is suited for most purposes but the problem with this energy is that the efficiency of devices used to harness it was very low. Hence, people now are working to build devices that capture this energy in a better way.

Another advantage of the plastic solar cells is that they are extremely light. Hence, the structure of the body or place where these are used need not be reinforced to make them capable of holding these cells, like for silicon panels.

By using solar cells, the sunlight is converted into electricity and is used for various purposes. With the emergence of more efficient plastic cells, even smaller automobiles have become capable of harnessing this energy.