Organic materials solar cells will come out in 5 years

According to the Jerusalem Post News, Steve Forest, a professor at the University of Michigan in the United States who was visiting the Ben Gurion University in Israel recently, said that organic materials that are quite cheap and can increase solar absorption rate will become a substitute for silicon materials in the future. Available solar energy technologies will mature within five years.

In his keynote entitled "Understanding and controlling solar energy conversion: The relationship between nanostructures and efficiency," he described the possibility of using organic materials to make solar panels. He said lightweight, recyclable plastic products will replace heavy, expensive silicon. Unlike bulky silicon, organic materials can produce thousands of square meters per day, and as light as you can roll up like an aluminum foil. . Such lightweight organic materials can even attach to the surface of a building without having to look for huge open spaces to install. This material can be replaced at any time because it is inexpensive.

The biggest problem with this kind of material at present is that the light absorption rate is inferior to silicon material. Laboratory data shows that the best silicon material has a solar absorption of 24%, while organic materials have only 12%. The absorption rate of 24% can convert 16% to 17% of energy, and the absorption rate of 12% means that there is only 6% conversion rate. However, this material has the potential to achieve light absorption of 21% to 27% in the laboratory. Professor Forester predicts that within two years scientists can develop organic material solar cells with a light absorption rate of 10%, and products with a light absorption rate of 15% in 4 to 5 years will come out.