Solar collector made from ... plastic!

New energy collectors made from plastic will be used to roof the roof, or wall panels (outside), or it can be a decorative material for the front of the house .

Solar batteries have a lot of applications. They are used in conditions where power is not available. In remote areas, for example, on satellites orbiting the Earth's orbit, space exploration ships, products such as portable electronic computers or solar-powered wristwatches.

Traditional solar collectors are usually made from silicon, so they are not flexible and quite heavy. In contrast, energy-saving panels made of plastic can be installed everywhere much easier. However, solar collectors made from plastic have a weak point: the level of solar energy conversion into electricity is low.

Energy collectors made from the best plastic can only convert 5% of solar energy into electricity, while silicon-based energy collectors convert 40% of the energy.

Solar battery (Photo: Softpedia, VNN)

David Carroll from Wake Forest University (Wake Forest University) in Winston-Salem, USA said: 'To be able to put into use solar cells from plastics, they must achieve the power of transformation. amount is 8%. So with new products made from silicon materials already on the market. '

The best solar battery is made of a light-absorbing polymer that contains spherical carbon molecules, called fullerenes. These molecules act as the transmission material for electric current to flow through.

By 2005, the highest performance of plastic solar panels was only 3%. And in 2005, David Carroll and his team announced that they succeeded when they were about to reach the efficiency threshold of converting 5% of solar energy into electricity. And less than a year later, Carroll and his colleagues announced once again that they had surpassed 6%.

Carroll said: 'In just two years we have doubled the 3% efficiency level. I can absolutely hope to achieve even greater results in the next two years, so that the solar panels made from this plastic can be brought to the market. '

In order to be considered an essential technology for economical applications, these new generation solar panels must convert 8% of the solar energy into electricity. However, scientists hope to reach 10% in just a few years.

If you can do that, energy-saving panels made of plastic will be used to roof the roof, or wall panels (outside), or it can be a decorative material for the front of the house. This energy collector can also be installed on top of cars. And because energy collectors made of this plastic are much lighter than those made from silicon, scientists don't need to worry about improving its weight anymore.

Manh Duc