Organic (Polymer) PV Cells
With the global demand for electricity ever increasing, the only way to tackle the issue is to harness energy from renewable sources. An exciting new technology which can be helpful in addressing this issue is the organic PV cells. Organic solar cells can be coloured, flexible and transparent. What is interesting to note is that they can even generate electricity under cloudy skies. With the development of these cells, sooner rather than later we will be able to harness solar power anywhere, in cars, on buildings and even on windows.
1) Methods of preparation
The two most common methods of production are the vacuum evaporation and solution processing methods. As polymers breakdown under immense heat and its molar mass is too large for evaporation, most polymer based PV elements are solutions processed at low temperatures. The printing methods are used to deposit conjugated semi conducting polymers. Examples of such methods used for production of polymer solar cells are doctor blading, screen printing, spin coating and inkjet printing.
Donor-acceptor blends are made by dissolving donor and acceptor modules in a solvent mixture. Blends are deposited by using either one the methods (spin-coating, doctor blading, screen printing or inkjet printing). Occasionally, a soluble monomer is cast as a thin film using a postdeposition polymerization reaction subsequently. Soluble precursor polymers can also be converted into the end product with a post deposition conversion reaction. The benefit here is that the resulting conjugated polymer think films are insoluble.
Figure 1 – Schematic device structure for polymer bulk solar cells. The active layer is sandwiched between two contacts (an idium-tin-oxide...
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B) Conjugated Polymer-Based Organic Solar Cells
Link-http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/cr050149z
Date Accessed on – 27th March 2014
C) Seventh Framework Programme– “ Briefing no. 12 – Energy Organic Photovaltaics March 2011”
Link-http://www.nanopinion.eu/sites/default/files/observatorynano_briefing_no.12_organic_photovoltaics.pdf
Date Accessed on – 28th March 2014
D) The Bridge – “Organic Semiconductors for Low-Cost Solar Cells by Chiatzun Goh and Michael D. McGehee”
Link –https://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/Cutting-EdgeResearchinEngineering/OrganicSemiconductorsforLow-CostSolarCells.aspx
Date Accessed on – 26th March 2014
E) CSIRO – “CSIRO company website”
Link -http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Future-Manufacturing-Flagship/Flexible-Electronics/Organic-photovoltaics.aspx
Date Accessed on – 28th March 2014
Solar systems, also known as solar panels, are built to be very efficient and require very little maintenance. Technology has helped to improve the look and construction of the solar panels. The solar systems that are built and installed today have to meet very strict guidelines. “Stringent quality control in the Modern Solar supply chain ensures the quality of solar product installed on your roof is reliable, durable, and of the highest quality standards.” (“Solar Energy Benefits”). These panels are built using “monocrystalline cells that are held together with solder. They are surrounded by a hard, glass cover, polymer EVA sheet and a sp...
Cost The cost of this additive is not that high and it can easily be put inside in the polymer when the product is being made.
The Solyndra Company, founded in 2005 by Christian Gronet, designed, manufactured, and sold a unique type of solar panels. They were termed “solar photovoltaic (PV) systems” and were designed for large, flat to low sloped commercial building roofs. The panels were designed to have the best performance when mounted horizontally and to be installed very close together so that they covered a much higher percentage of the roof top thus producing more electricity than the typical flat panel solar panels by comparison. This was created through the production by absorbing light from all directions including indirect and reflected light as well as direct sunlight when combined with a white roof. This was due to the design of having rolled its copper indium gallium selenite or CIGS into a cylindrical shape. Each tube had 40 of them in each 1-meter-by-2-meter panel (Solyndra, 2008).
Photovoltaic cells are found everywhere today: your home, work buildings, schools, and more. There are two types of Photovoltaic Cells: Organic and Inorganic. The type of cell that are most often found and used are inorganic cells. Inorganic cells are known to produce much more energy than organic cells. Although the main element used in these inorganic cells is Silicon, there are many more elements that are used in inorganic photovoltaic cells. There is monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous, and microcrystalline Si, the III-V compounds and alloys, CdTe, and the chalcopyrite compound, copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). These photovoltaic cells are built for large scale power generations. All of these semiconductors have energy band gaps between 1.1-1.7 eV.
The most commonly produced PVC structure by addition polymerisation is the atactic PVC. As seen in Figure #, the chlorine atoms are branched randomly and asymmetrically along the carbon backbone. Unlike the other two structures, the random orientation prevents the polymers from packing closely together and is described to be ‘amorphous’.
Online, Chemistry, ed. "Solar Powering the World." Solar Energy (Photovoltaic Cells). 29 July 2008 .
All polymer host has some major advantages for which their application in electrochemical devices are still continuing. Also these polymer have some disadvantages and to improve the
23. S. Alwarappan, S. Boyapalle, A. Kumar, C.-Z. Li and S. Mohapatra, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2012, 116, 6556–6559
The two types of polymer configurations are cis and trans. These structures can not be changed by physical means (e.g. rotation). The cis configuration arises when substituent groups are on the same side of a carbon-carbon double bond. Trans refers to the substituents on opposite sides of the double bond.
Hung S. Park et al., US Patent 4,375,533, Polymerization process for carboxyl containing polymers, (Mar. 1, 1983).
Although Solar Energy is a flexible source of where energy could be directly or indirectly converted into forms of energy, it’s still not perfect. With its inefficiency, scientists are trying to find alternative solution to store solar cells for as long as possible. The main process of capturing solar energy happens at the nanoscale. With solar cells, it gets more efficient the tinier it gets. The converting rate of solar energy is equally price competitive as fossil fuel, with a dollar per watt of solar energy. With the help of nanotechnology, it could help raise solar energy conversion efficiency and help lower costs making it the ultimate method of raw energy conversion. To make sure the process of generating energy is kept at a low cost and energy output...
Rotman, David. "Finding a Solar Solution." Technology Review 2 (2012): 48-51. Print. 22 November 2014.
J. Clayden, N. Greeves, S. Warren, P. Wothers. Organic Chemistry. 8th ed. 2007, Oxford University Press, p. 1186-1191.
Solar Cell Experiment Aim: To see how individual factors affect the output of a solar cell. Factors affecting the output of a solar cell: This experiment is going to be performed in the confines of a school laboratory, and so the complexity and cost of the experiment(s) should reflect this. However, to see how different factors affect the solar cell output, I will need to perform at least two experiments. The question is, which ones? · Distance from the light source will affect the solar cell output, because intensity of light on the solar cell will decrease, the further away from the light the cell is.