The Masters of Everything Cheap, the Chinese, Have Cheap Non-Silicon Solar Cells

Who says solar will never work? The masters of everything cheap - the big country that "drinks our milkshake ('I drink it all!')," the Chinese - have figured out how to make dye-sensitized solar cells without ruthenium and volatile electrolytes. Another golden jewel from Technology Review:

Dye-sensitized solar cells could make solar power more affordable: they are cheaper to make than conventional silicon solar cells and can easily be printed on flexible surfaces. But there's a catch: creating efficient cells of this type has required dyes made of the precious metal ruthenium and volatile electrolytes. Now researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have replaced both of these materials in a new kind of dye-sensitized solar cell that is not only highly efficient: it also promises to be even cheaper and more durable.

The key to the advance is a new organic dye molecule designed by chemistry professor Peng Wang and his colleagues. Organic dyes reduce the cost of making the cells because they are more abundant and cheaper to obtain than ruthenium compounds. The researchers also use a different type of electrolyte called an ionic liquid. This produces a more robust solar cell: the electrolytes that are currently used contain organic solvents that can evaporate and leak out at high temperatures. The ionic liquid can also be used with plastic, opening up the possibility of flexible solar cells. "We demonstrated for the first time that an all-organic dye can be employed to make stable, solvent-free cells exhibiting a high efficiency comparable to ruthenium dyes," Wang says.

The researchers set a new efficiency record for cells incorporating organic dye molecules. To compete with conventional solar cells, dye-sensitized ones need to be at least 10 percent efficient at converting light into electricity. Wang and his colleagues achieved 9.8 percent efficiency with the new organic dyes.

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They plan to reach efficiencies of 14 percent by the end of next year using nonvolatile electrolytes.

Many of the freaks who say solar won't work are misanthropes who isolate themselves from reality, who don't understand technology. Take your white beach zombie skin out into the sunlight once in a while to see what's really going on.

- Brewskie