Nanoparticle Ink Could Print Solar Cells Like Newspaper
Nanoparticle inks could be used to print solar cells like newspaper, or painted onto the side of buildings or rooftops to produce electricity.
Manufacturing solar cells using gas-phase deposition in a vacuum chamber requiring high temperatures is relatively expensive. However, according to Professor Brian Korgel, University of Texas, Austin, and co-founder of Innovalight, it may be possible to reduce these costs by an amazing 90% - making the price of solar energy more competitive with other technologies.
His team has been working on a solution of nanomaterials using copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) which is not only cheaper than silicon but you also use less of it when manufacturing solar cells. The light-absorbing nanomaterials are 10,000 times thinner than a strand of hair, because their microscopic size allows for new physical properties that can help enable higher-efficiency devices.