Greentech Lead America: A group of researchers from COPE and Purdue University has developed a new solar cell solely made from plants.
The green solar cell can be compared to a leaf that absorbs sun’s light and converts into energy. These solar cells are recyclable too. Once developed and implemented, the technology has the potential to create a sustainable and environment friendly energy production, the report said.
The solar cells, which are made of natural substrates derived from trees, are fabricated on cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates, so they can be recycled in water without leaving any footprint. The CNC substrates are optically transparent so it allows light to pass through before it’s absorbed by a thin layer of organic semiconductor.
During recycling, the solar cells are immersed in water at room temperature. Within minutes, the CNC substrate dissolves and the solar cell can be separated easily into its major components.
“The development and performance of organic substrates in solar technology continues to improve, providing engineers with a good indication of future applications,” said Professor Bernard Kippelen, project leader and director of COPE. “But organic solar cells must be recyclable. Otherwise we are simply solving one problem, less dependence on fossil fuels, while creating another, a technology that produces energy from renewable sources but is not disposable at the end of its lifecycle.”
Earlier last year, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created the first plastic solar cell using a commercially available polymer that can be easily processed from dilute solutions in solvents like water.