Inkjet printing could aid future of solar energy
Washington, June 29 (ANI): Inkjet printers could change the face of solar energy industry by significantly reducing raw material waste and lowering the cost of producing solar energy cells, according to a new research. Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way for inkjet printers, that in recent decades has revolutionized home and small office printing, to make possible high performing, rapidly produced, ultra-low cost, and thin film solar electronics. This is very promising and could be an important new technology to add to the solar energy field," said Chih-hung Chang, an OSU professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering. "Until now no one had been able to create working CIGS solar devices with inkjet technology." One of the most promising compounds and the focus of the current study is called chalcopyrite, or "CIGS" for the copper, indium, gallium and selenium elements of which it's composed. "Some of the materials we want to work with for the most advanced solar cells, such as indium, are relatively expensive," Chang said. "If that's what you're using you can't really afford to waste it, and the inkjet approach almost eliminates the waste." In the new findings, researchers were able to create an ink that could print chalcopyrite onto substrates with an inkjet approach, with a power conversion efficiency of about 5 percent. The OSU researchers say that with continued research they should be able to achieve an efficiency of about 12 percent, which would make a commercially viable solar cell. The findings have been published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. (ANI)
