A team of scientists from New Mexico State University (NMSU, Sante Fe, NM) and Wake Forest University (WFU) have developed a breakthrough in solar research with organic solar cells. While traditional solar panels are made of silicon, which is expensive, brittle, and shatters like glass, the newly developed organic solar cells are made of plastic that is relatively inexpensive, flexible, can be wrapped around structures, or even applied like paint. However, the relatively low energy efficiency levels produced by organic solar cells have been a drawback. To be effective producers of energy, the solar cells must be able to convert 10 percent of the energy in sunlight to electricity. Typical silicon panels are about 12 percent energy-conversion efficient, and organic solar technology typically reaches about three percent to four percent. The NMSU/WFU team has achieved a solar energy efficiency level of 5.2 percent.
"This means we are closer to making organic solar cells that are available on the market," stated NMSU Nanotechnology Laboratory Head Physicist Seamus Curran. "Conventional thinking has been that that landmark was at least a decade away. With this group's research, it may be only four or five years before plastic solar cells are a reality for consumers. The importance of the breakthrough cannot be underestimated. We need to look into alternative energy sources if the United States is to reduce its dependence on foreign sources. A cheap, flexible plastic made of a polymer blend would revolutionize the solar market. Our expectation is to get beyond 10 percent in the next five years. Our current mix is using polymer and carbon buckyballs (fullerenes) and good engineering from Wake Forest and unique NSOM imaging from NMSU to get to that point."
