Solar jeans a renewable source of energyQuestPoint

This 4th of July season the ideals of freedom are ever present. The green sustainability movement is sweeping the country as scientists, environmentalist, agents of change and citizens from all aspects of our society begin to grapple with the what it means to be free. As exploration into alternate sources of energy continues it appears that researches from Cornell University are reporting organic material similar to that found in blue jeans functions as solar cells. There’s plenty of research to be completed but the solar industry has been researching efficiency, thin film and plant like material to lower costs.

Making better solar cells: Cornell University researchers have discovered a simple process – employing molecules typically used in blue jean and ink dyes – for building an organic framework that could lead to economical, flexible and versatile solar cells. The discovery is reported in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Today’s heavy silicon panels are effective, but they can also be expensive and unwieldy. Searching for alternatives, William Dichtel, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, and Eric L. Spitler, a National Science Foundation American Competitiveness in Chemistry Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell, employed a strategy that uses organic dye molecules assembled into a structure known as a covalent organic framework (COF). Organic materials have long been recognized as having potential to create thin, flexible and low-cost photovoltaic devices, but it has been proven difficult to organize their component molecules reliably into ordered structures likely to maximize device performance.

At the core of the framework are molecules called phthalocyanines, a class of common industrial dyes used in products from blue jeans to ink pens. Phthalocyanines are also closely related in structure to chlorophyll, the compound in plants that absorbs sunlight for photosynthesis. The compounds absorb almost the entire solar spectrum – a rare property for a single organic material.

“For most organic materials used for electronics, there’s a combination of some design to get the materials to perform well enough, and there’s a little bit of an element of luck,” Dichtel said. “We’re trying to remove as much of that element of luck as we can.”

The structure by itself is not a solar cell yet, but it is a model that will significantly broaden the scope of materials that can be used in COFs, Dichtel said. “We also hope to take advantage of their structural precision to answer fundamental scientific questions about moving electrons through organic materials.”

Once the framework is assembled, the pores between the molecular latticework could potentially be filled with another organic material to form a light, flexible, highly efficient and easy-to-manufacture solar cell. The next step is to begin testing ways of filling in the gaps with complementary molecules.

It’s easy to recognize there can be plenty of heat in a pair of jeans, but who would have thought it could be turned into solar energy.

The National Science Foundation provided funding for this research.

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OBAMA ANNOUNCES $2 Billion Solar Award

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Intersolar North America

Taking place from July 13-15 in San Francisco’s Moscone Center West Hall, promotes the development of business opportunities throughout the U.S. solar industry. More than 550 U.S.-based and international exhibitors and 20,000 trade visitors are expected.

Facing Tough PV Manufacturing Challenges: Intersolar North America 2010 to Host Inaugural PV Group North American Fab Managers Forum

Leading Solar Cell-Makers Will Convene at July Event in San Francisco

SEMI PV Group today announced that the first annual North American Fab Managers Forum will be held at Intersolar North America 2010 in San Francisco, California on July 12, 2010. Hosted by SEMI PV Group, the Fab Managers Forum is focused on addressing shared supply chain challenges and improving customer-supplier relations across the photovoltaic supply chain.

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