A new honeycomb design for thin-film solar cells could boost efficiency, while reducing the amount of silicon needed to produce them.
A research team from Swiss firm Oerlikon Solar, and the Institute of Physics' photovoltaic group at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, found that a design using a 3D nanostructure can improve the absorption of light into solar cells made from special forms of silicon, which can be produced in quantity for little cost, according to a report by The Engineer.
It is hoped that the lower costs could help to boost industrial-scale production, leading to a larger take-up of renewable energies.
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The Engineer report
Honeycomb design could enhance thin-film solar cells
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Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine, published six times a year, for just £100/€110/$160. Find out more here
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Nano solar developer secures funding to commercialise technology
A Norwegian company developing a new thin-film solar cell has begun a programme to develop a prototype by 2013, with the aim of commercialisation by 2015 at the earliest
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Textured substrates raise organic solar cell efficiencies
US-based researchers at the Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University have developed a process for applying a thin and uniform light-absorbing layer on textured substrates that improves the efficiencies of polymer solar cells by increasing light absorption
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The Future of Flexible and Thin-Film PVs
Technology forecasts to 2019, published by IntertechPira
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