MIT Develops World's Thinnest Solar Cell, Just A Nanometer Thickness

A team of researchers at MIT has devised a technique to create solar cells that are just two molecules thick. Though the resultant solar cell can offer conversion efficiency of just 1-2 per cent, on placing multiple cells on top of the other, it is possible to increase the overall capacity, as compared to the conventional cells.

The latest trend in solar cell research has been on enhancing the conversion efficiency of solar cells. As a result, most solar cells can now generate 15 -20 per cent of the solar energy they get into electricity and the most efficient modules operate at 30 per cent efficiency level.

Researchers at MIT are now planning to turn their research into a new direction. They are now working on making the solar cells much thinner and use fewer materials. In their research paper titled “Extraordinary Sunlight Absorption and 1 nm-Thick Photovoltaics using Two-Dimensional Monolayer Materials” they have explained how they have developed a technique to create solar cells which are only two molecules thick- the thinnest possible solar cells reported so far.

As explained by Jeffrey Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering at MIT, who authored the research paper along with Marco Bernardi, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Materials Science, and Maurizia Palummo, a senior researcher visiting MIT from the University of Rome, described that they made use of nanotechnology to put a one-molecule thick layer of grapheme on top of a one-molecule thick layer of molybdenum disulphide to create a solar cell, which is just one nanometre thick.

Alta Devices is also working on developing an ultra-thin solar cell, and while their product also works at 30 per cent efficiency, it is 1,000 times thicker as compared to MIT’s cell. Also, the MIT cell will be cheap to produce as compared to Alta Devices’ which will be expensive as it involves the use of purified silicon.

Comments

Google to build green-roof California HQ

An image has been released of what looks set to become Google's new California HQ. Named Bay View, the nine-building campus is designed to maximize the likelihood of innovation-friendly chance encounters between the workforce. "You can't schedule innovation," Google's David Radcliffe tells Vanity Fair . "We want to create opportunities for people to have ideas and be able to turn to others right there and say, 'What do you think of this?'" This philosophy has fostered the design's angular office blocks, arranged back to back like nodding clergy. Despite the 1.1 million sq ft (102,000 sq m), employees will be a maximum of a 2.5-minute walk away from one another, Vanity Fair reports. Perhaps most remarkable is that this is Google's first build. In its 15-year history, Google has only ever occupied buildings previously used by others. "We've been the world's best hermit crabs: we've found other people's shell

Connectify Dispatch combines multiple internet connections into high speed bandwidth

Connectify, a company known for software that can turn your computer into a wireless hotspot, is at work on a new project called Dispatch that will turn all internet connections available to your device into one glorious (and hopefully faster and more stable) stream of high-speed bandwidth. The project appears to take some of its cues from live video broadcasting companies like LiveU , which sells custom made backpacks wired up with 3G/4G and Wi-Fi transceivers. These backpacks then spread the traffic load over whatever available networks it can connect to in order to maximize bandwidth, which is obviously a major plus if you're streaming live video. Dispatch, however, is planned as a software-only solution for the masses – no special backpack required. It will dynamically manage the traffic based on which networks provide the greatest bandwidth and have the clearest signal, which also means that even if one of the networks drops out entirely, you'll still have interne

Nerf Vulcan Sentry Gun tracks targets and avoids friendly fire

Anyone who plays video games will know that few things protect an area like a well-placed sentry gun. In the real world, though, even a person's bedroom or office could use a little protection sometimes, which is why one designer has built the Nerf Vulcan Sentry Gun. Using a custom program and some servos, the sentry can automatically locate targets and unleash a stream of foam darts at over seven times the usual speed, while keeping its owner out of the crosshairs. Britt Liv Ulrike Michelsen, a chemical and biological engineering student from Germany, designed and constructed the sentry using mostly basic electronics and some plywood. This isn't the first time she's modified a Nerf gun, but building this robotic turret is arguably her most ambitious project to date. Luckily, the Nerf Vulcan already operates using an electric motor, so controlling the actual firing mechanism through a computer was just a matter of connecting it directly to an Arduino Uno and a laptop.

ANBARASUASOKAN

Search This Blog