via Pusan National University
The Future of Solar Technology
International research team creates solar cells with unprecedented flexibility and resistance
With the recent development of foldable mobile phone screens, research on foldable electronics has never been so intensive. One particularly useful application of the foldable technology is in solar panels.
Current solar cells are restricted to rigid, flat panels, which are difficult to store in large numbers and integrate into everyday appliances, including phones, windows, vehicles, or indoor devices. But, one problem prevents this formidable technology from breaking through: to be integrated into these items, solar cells need to be foldable, to bend at will repeatedly without breaking. Traditional conducting materials used in solar cells lack flexibility, creating a huge obstacle in developing fully foldable cells.
A key requirement for an efficient foldable conductor is the ability to withstand the pressure of bending within a very small radius while maintaining its integrity and other desirable properties. In short, a thin, flexible, transparent, and resilient conductor material is needed. Professor Il Jeon of Pusan National University, Korea, elaborates, “Unlike merely flexible electronics, foldable devices are subject to much harsher deformations, with folding radii as small as 0.5 mm. This is not possible with conventional ultra-thin glass substrates and metal oxide transparent conductors, which can be made flexible but never fully foldable.”
Fortunately, an international team of researchers, including Prof. Jeon, have found a solution, in a study published in Advanced Science. They identified a promising candidate to answer all of these requirements: single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films, owing to their high transparency and mechanical resilience. The only problem is that SWNTs struggle to adhere to the substrate surface when force is applied (such as bending) and requires chemical doping. To address this problem, the scientists embedded the conducting layer into a polyimide (PI) substrate, filling the void spaces in the nanotubes.
To ensure maximum performance, they also “doped” the resulting material to increase its conductivity. By introducing small impurities (in this case, withdrawn electrons to molybdenum oxide) into the SWNT-PI nanocomposite layer, the energy needed for electrons to move across the structure is much smaller, and hence more charge can be generated for a given amount of current.
Their resulting prototype far exceeded the team’s expectations. Only 7 micrometers thick, the composite film exhibited exceptional resistance to bending, almost 80% transparency, and a power conversion efficiency of 15.2%, the most ever achieved in solar cells using carbon nanotube conductors! In fact, as pointed out by Prof. Jeon, “The obtained results are some of the best among those reported thus far for flexible solar cells, both in terms efficiency and mechanical stability.”
With this novel breakthrough in solar harvesting technology, one can only imagine what next-generation solar panels will look like.
Original Article: The Future of Solar Technology: New Technology Makes Foldable Cells a Practical Reality
More from: Pusan National University
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Foldable solar cells
- The Best Portable Solar Phone Chargers Can Charge Your Phone Anywhere — Sunlight Permitting
This adventure-ready charger is made up of a 38800 mAh power bank, four foldable solar panels, two built-in flashlights and two USB power ports, giving you everything you need to manage your ...
- Portable Solar Charger Market Is Growing At 18% CAGR From 2020 to 2027 - Report by Market Research Future (MRFR)
The portable solar charger market report is segmented into types, panel types, components, applications, and regions. The type segment comprises small portable chargers, foldable portable chargers ...
- Portable Solar Charger Market Is Growing At 18% CAGR From 2020 to 2027 - Report by Market Research Future (MRFR)
Increasing Product Launches to Drive the Portable Solar Charger MarketNew York, US, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a comprehensive research report by Market Research Future (MRFR), ...
- Pecron E3000 review: A portable power station so massive it comes with a hand cart
These folding panels are always more expensive, and $449 is a serious chunk of change for 200W of solar charging power. With a clear and readable screen, a ton of useful outlets, and two built-in ...
- 25C3: Solar-powering Your Gear
[script] selected a four segment folding solar panel after some research. He pointed out that solar is currently more of a necessity technology than money saving since the panels can be very ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Foldable solar cells
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Flexible solar cells
- Exploring the Future of PV — JA Solar’s n-type DeepBlue 4.0 X
Over the past decade, the growth of the global photovoltaics (PV) industry has been impressive, with significant technological developments made in both laboratory and industrial mass production. As ...
- Startup's solar module can make any EV drive using sunshine
With EVs now the focus of transportation, modular solar panels that can be fitted with ease could give a major fillip to greener transportation.
- Perovskite solar cell defect characterization during manufacture for improved stability
A novel electrochemical robotic arm is under development at the University of Arizona to identify perovskite defects during manufacturing rather than after to improve durability.
- Portable flexible PV systems for off-grid, residential applications
US startup New Use Energy Solutions has launched a new line of portable PV systems built with a module technology relying on Sunpower’s solar cells. The modules are assembled in the system via a ...
- BougeRV’s CIGS 100W flexible solar panel offers 360° charging
The CIGS 100W flexible solar panel from BougeRV is entirely flexible, making it easier to set up in many different conditions.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Flexible solar cells








