Within the Consolider HOPE project (projects funded by the Ministry of Innovation and Science), a group of scientists at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), headed by Juan Antonio Anta, are working on the optimisation of a type of photovoltaic cell (Grätzel cell) that artificially mimics photosynthesis.

Grätzel cells are photovoltaic devices that take advantage of the interaction of a structured semiconductor less than nanometre in size and an organic dye that acts as a solar collector.

According to Elena Guillén, member of UPO’s Coloides y Celdas Solares Nanoestructuradas (Nanostructured Colloids and Solar Cells) Group, this dye can be either synthetic or natural and can even enable the use of chlorophyll for this type of cell.

Thus, researchers at UPO have begun a study with which they hope to increase the efficiency of these eosin or mercurochrome -based organic components by incorporating ionic salts, known as green solvents, with a view to preventing evaporation of the liquid compounds and the consequent reduction in efficiency.

Previous studies show that ionic salts are less volatile and it is this characteristic that the group headed by Professor Anta seeks to exploit. “Notwithstanding its liquid state, these types of solvents have high viscosity levels and, therefore, during the coming months we will continue our study, working on different alternatives within ionic liquids, their synthesis, etc.,” comments Elena Guillén.

The pros and cons of the new generation

Although there are already some third generation cells on the market (for example, for recharging mobile phones), according to the researchers their practical use is anecdotal. However, due to their properties of flexibility and variety of colours and shapes, the future of these cells lies in new market niches such as decoration or use in coloured windows that not only allow light through but use this light to generate electricity.

On the other hand, apart from the rapid amortisation of energy production costs -estimated in one year’s use-, there is also the low cost of the materials. “Organic materials are usually cheaper,” affirms the researcher, despite which the search continues for an alternative organic dye to the one currently used, derived from ruthenium.

“The paradox lies in the fact that if one uses these cells because their competitive edge is that they are cheaper and more readily available, and then one uses a dye based on a precious metal, what is the advantage?” points out Elena Guillén.

On the other hand, the researchers are aware that it is a relatively new technology -this type of cell was invented in 1991- that still need to be greatly developed. Furthermore, the maximum efficiency obtained in laboratory is only 11%, which is competitive but it drops when extrapolated to an industrial scale.

The main technological challenge is currently the problem of cell degradation. “If you use an organic dye, it can be degraded by the action of sunlight, with the consequent reduction in useful life compared to silicon cells. On the other hand,” the researcher highlights, “our group is working on one of the key aspect for improving cell stability – elimination of the need to use liquids that can present problems with evaporation, etc. and for which, as already mentioned, our focus is on the use of ionic salts.”

IMEC, one of the leading European research centers in photovoltaics, and BP Solar, a leading energy company, demonstrated a 18% conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells made of BP Solar’s newly developed Mono2^TM silicon. By combining IMEC’s advanced processing techniques with BP Solar’s high-quality low-cost substrates, the companies demonstrated that Mono2 has a good potential to become a new base material for low-cost highly-efficient solar cells.

low cost solar cell

BP Solar’s Mono2 production process delivers a promising new wafer platform for solar cells with the potential to become a low-cost alternative to the more expensive Czochralski silicon substrates because it combines extremely low defect densities and high conversion efficiencies with production costs that are comparable to the costs of traditional multicrystalline substrates. The production of Mono2 involves a proprietary growth nucleation process for the casting of ingots used to produce single crystal bricks and wafers whereby preferred crystallographic orientations can be achieved. This feature allows further improvement in cell efficiencies. BP Solar’s Mono2 was developed with support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technologies Pathways Partnership.

IMEC’s cell production process is feasible as an industrial production process as it only adds three processing steps to the standard industrially applied process of full aluminum back surface field.

IMEC’s solar cells are 130?m thick and cover an area of 156mmx156mm. Using IMEC’s advanced processes such as dielectric passivation and a localized back surface field, a conversion efficiency of 18% for the new low-cost Mono2 silicon solar cells, which is in the range of the current commercial solar cells, has been demonstrated with a dramatic reduction in cell thickness.

Jef Poortmans, Program Director Photovoltaics said, “IMEC’s photovoltaic research aims towards a sharp reduction in production cost and at the same time an increase of the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. Our partners can leverage our advanced processing techniques, to create high-efficiency low-cost solar cells based on their proprietary high-quality materials and knowhow.”

Eric Daniels, BP Solar’s vice president, global technology said “BP Solar is working to leverage such key technology developments to further reduce the cost of PV electricity. Working with R&D centers such as IMEC and key customers, we are commercializing this technology and seek to provide a better platform for the current and next generation solar cells. This collaboration with IMEC represents significant progress towards that goal.”

]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

IMEC, one of the leading European research centers in photovoltaics, and BP Solar, a leading energy company, demonstrated a 18% conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells made of BP Solar’s newly developed Mono2^TM silicon. By combining IMEC’s advanced processing techniques with BP Solar’s high-quality low-cost substrates, the companies demonstrated that Mono2 has a good potential to become a new base material for low-cost highly-efficient solar cells.

low cost solar cell

BP Solar’s Mono2 production process delivers a promising new wafer platform for solar cells with the potential to become a low-cost alternative to the more expensive Czochralski silicon substrates because it combines extremely low defect densities and high conversion efficiencies with production costs that are comparable to the costs of traditional multicrystalline substrates. The production of Mono2 involves a proprietary growth nucleation process for the casting of ingots used to produce single crystal bricks and wafers whereby preferred crystallographic orientations can be achieved. This feature allows further improvement in cell efficiencies. BP Solar’s Mono2 was developed with support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technologies Pathways Partnership.

IMEC’s cell production process is feasible as an industrial production process as it only adds three processing steps to the standard industrially applied process of full aluminum back surface field.

IMEC’s solar cells are 130?m thick and cover an area of 156mmx156mm. Using IMEC’s advanced processes such as dielectric passivation and a localized back surface field, a conversion efficiency of 18% for the new low-cost Mono2 silicon solar cells, which is in the range of the current commercial solar cells, has been demonstrated with a dramatic reduction in cell thickness.

Jef Poortmans, Program Director Photovoltaics said, “IMEC’s photovoltaic research aims towards a sharp reduction in production cost and at the same time an increase of the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. Our partners can leverage our advanced processing techniques, to create high-efficiency low-cost solar cells based on their proprietary high-quality materials and knowhow.”

Eric Daniels, BP Solar’s vice president, global technology said “BP Solar is working to leverage such key technology developments to further reduce the cost of PV electricity. Working with R&D centers such as IMEC and key customers, we are commercializing this technology and seek to provide a better platform for the current and next generation solar cells. This collaboration with IMEC represents significant progress towards that goal.”

Start uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_get_tracker Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Start uga_get_option: account_id uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: account_id (UA-10399907-2) Ending uga_get_tracker: Start uga_insert_html_once: footer, Footer hooked: HTML inserted: Location is FOOTER Inserting HTML End uga_insert_html Ending uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_shutdown Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Footer hook was executed Start uga_get_option: footer_hooked uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: footer_hooked (1) Start uga_get_option: debug uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.humacon.org,humacon.org', 'account_id' => 'UA-10399907-2', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: debug (1) -->