Solar panels on the roll

2002/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Materialak

Components of solar panels are cheap, but the formed panel is expensive. Engineers from a team at the University of Arizona have developed a technique to develop fine solar panels of low quality and price. Scientists have launched a method similar to that used in paper making to decorate the wall. In this way, the solar panels can be sold in roll form.

To do this, the basic glass sheets are added a thin layer of a conductive and transparent material. This layer is the first electrode in the cell. On it stick a thin layer of polymer. Finally, a mixture of two organic substances is added, the first is a fulerene substance that generates current when receiving light and the second a polymer that conducts loads.

Conventional panels have 4.3% efficiency when used with blue light, being even lower with white light. Therefore, scientists are trying to improve the product before marketing it.