Solar cells may soon abandon the classic location inside solar panels, to which we have been accustomed for years. Some American researchers have in fact given life to special liquid solar cells, thanks to the development of an innovative technique that will allow them to be composed thanks to the use of nanocrystals so microscopic as to be used for the creation of inks or liquid paints with which they can be painted different surfaces exposed to the sun, in order to facilitate the production of energy.
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Le solar cells they may soon abandon the classic location within solar panels, to which we have been accustomed for years. Some American researchers have in fact created special liquid solar cells, thanks to the development of an innovative technique that will allow them to be composed thanks to the use of nanocristalli so microscopic as to be used for the creations of liquid inks or paints with which different surfaces exposed to the sun can be painted in order to facilitate the production of energy.
The nanocrystals, whose dimensions are equivalent to 4 nanometers, equal to 4 millionths of a millimeter. They can therefore be placed in suspension within liquid coloring substances to be used to repaint the external walls and roofs of buildings, which themselves would be transformed into panels capable of producing electricity once hit by sunlight. It has been calculated that 250 billion of them could be gathered on the tip of a pin, so microscopic their dimensions turned out to be.
The commercialization of liquid solar cells could still require several years of study but, in the opinion of those who have dealt with the most recent research on the subject, solar nanocrystals could find application within next generation technologies. In the future, according to Richard L. Brutchey, a chemistry teacher at Dornsife College at the University of Southern California, solar cells could be printed as newspapers are printed.
One of the positive aspects of using nanocrystals is represented by low costs necessary for their production, compared to common silicone solar cells. Until now, the downside was that nanocrystals still did not appear to be able to guarantee equal efficiency in convert solar energy into electricity, compared to the technologies currently in use. This was because the special molecules used to keep the nanocrystals separate from each other would have the side effect of causing them to isolate, reducing their ability to conduct electricity.
But it seems that David H. Webber, one of the researchers at the University of Southern California, discovered a synthetic binder able to connect the nanocrystals together in order to favor the current conduction process. Experts have also developed a low-temperature process that will allow solar cells to be printed on plastic, without worrying that the latter may melt. This could mean that they can be realized in the future flexible solar panels, easily adaptable to different energy needs based on the conformation of each building or device that requires electricity for its operation.
Marta Albè
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