Renewable Energy Focus - Nanotechnology increases organic polymer solar thin-film potential

Renewable Energy Focus - Nanotechnology increases organic polymer solar thin-film potential

Researchers at the University of Stanford has found that by configuring the thickness of several layers of films, an organic polymer solar thin-film could absorb as much as 10 time more energy than previously thought possible.
Light ricocheting around inside the polymer of film of a solar cell behaves differently when the film is ultra thin. If that film is nanoscale-thin and has been roughed up, it can produce 10 times more energy, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Using light trapping, more energy can be harvested from solar power, writes the Stanford Report.

“The longer a photon of light is in the solar cell, the better chance the photon can get absorbed,” Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, Shanhui Fan, told the Stanford Report.