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Cheap Spray-on Plastic Solar Cells Coming

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-isn't-that-special dept.

coyote1 writes "The Sacramento Bee reports about custom-tailored molecules and spray-on plastic could someday create the next generation of solar cells -- more flexible, more efficient and much less expensive than existing sources of solar power. Nanotechnology is used to organize the molecules that are sprayed onto a surface."

5 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Yesterday's news by blamanj · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=58 5&u=/nm/20020328/sc_nm/science_solar_dc_2

    Whine:* 2002-03-28 22:53:09 Paint-on solar cells (articles,news) (rejected)

  2. Re:Partly Organic? by Yobgod+Ababua · · Score: 4, Informative

    In the context of chemistry and materials, organic refers to a material based on carbon (an element abbreviated as C). Additional elements that are commonly found in organic materials are hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S).

    So... if the plastic is carbon (or hydrocarbon) based, it's organic. Note that this definition of organic has nothing to do with the one used to refer to naturally grown produce.

  3. Another link (blatant Karma whoring) by Grumpman · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here ya go Not much more info, but a pretty picture of a non-painted solar cell ;-P

  4. Re:Big Oil by spike+hay · · Score: 3, Informative

    However, these new solar cells are made from plastic, which doesn't help our dependency on oil

    To power your house for 20 years, you might need 10 pounds of plastic. That is 10 pounds of oil, or roughly a little over a gallon. Compare that to the thousands of gallons you would otherwise use. Just think more critically. Even with all the plastic we use today, it barely makes a dent in oil usage.

    --
    If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
  5. The old myth again by basfromasd · · Score: 3, Informative
    How much longer will we have to deal with the old myth that PV systems will never pay back the energy they cost to produce? Instead of just repeating the old mantra you might read on what people who have actually done the math (a method called Life Cycle Assessment) have found. Depending on the technology used (crystalline silicon vs. thin film technology), a solar panel delivers the energy it cost to produce in less than one year upto a few years. If you use a solar panel instead of roof tiles the energy payback time is even (a lot) shorter. And it's not like this information is new. A search for life cycle assessment photovoltaic returns almost 6000 hits on Google.

    Now in terms of economic value: given the fact that prices of PV systems have come down dramatically over the past decades, while electricity has only become more expensive, it is already economical in my country to install PV on homes and other buildings (and the Netherlands is not a particularly sunny country!). It will not make you rich and it takes years to pay for itself, but it will in the end.

    And nuclear energy is clean and cheap? Give me a break! I thought we all knew better than that. It sounds like Dick Halliburton Cheney is speaking.

    I do agree on the statement that solar heat systems (hot water) are much more economical and pay back for themselves much quicker. And yes, wind turbines work very well too and pay back for themselves (at least in this windy country).