A major obstacle with solar power is an inability to be cost-competitive with traditional mainstream energy sources. Now a Chicago company says it has taken a major step forward with the development of a new semiconductor material that would affordably enable windows to act as solar panels.
Polyera Corporation reports that its newest proprietary ActivInk PV2000 is a substantial breakthrough in the development of organic solar cell technology for large-scale manufacturing of low-cost, lightweight, flexible and optically semi-transparent solar modules. The device performance was certified by Newport Corporation’s PV Cell Lab.
According to Polyera, ActivInk PV2000 tested “at a world-record” 9.1 percent power-conversion efficiency (i.e. how much energy from the sun is converted into usable electricity). It holds the promise of addressing the issues of cost due to the potential to be manufactured on large areas at high speeds on lightweight substrates like plastic. Other properties unique to organic solar cells – such as the ability to be light, flexible, and optically semi-transparent – make them suited for use in architectural or other design areas, such as windows that also act as solar panels, for use in office buildings or cars, where other energy technologies are infeasible.