접을 수 있는 태양전지가 등장할 전망

메사추세츠 공과대학(MIT)가 태양전지 기능을 할 수 있는 광택지 개발에 성공했다고 5일(현지시간) 씨넷뉴스가 전했다. 이번 광택지 개발은 전력 기술을 향상시키기 위한 프로젝트의 일환으로 진행됐다.

수잔 호크필드 MIT 총장, 이탈리아 석유 회사 에니 파올로 스카로니 CEO는 에니-MIT 태양전지 혁신 연구센터에 대한 투자도 밝혔다. 에니가 500만달러를 투자했고 국립과학재단이 200만달러를 투자했다.

Vladimir Bulovic, director of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center, holds a solar cell printed

onto a piece of paper to spell MIT. This is the first paper solar cell, according to MIT and Eni.

Using nanoscale materials means that solar cells can be deposited onto a wide range of substrates, including flexible plastic and metal foils. MIT researchers claim to be the first to coat paper with the two layers of semiconductor needed to make a solar cell. In this case, they used a carbon-based dye but the breakthrough was the coating process, which is similar to an inkjet printer, explained Bulovic.

이 자리에서는 태양전지가 함께 선보였다. 아직까지 연구단계인 태양전지는 수년 내 상업화가 가능할 전망이다. 이 기술은 잉크젯 프린터와 유사한 과정을 거쳐 유기 반도체 물질로 광택제를 입히게 된다. 가볍다는 것이 특징이다.

블라디미르 부로빅 에니-MIT 태양전지연구소장은 "태양전지를 설치할 때 스테이플(일명 호치케스)를 사용하게 된다면 많은 부가가치가 만들어질 것"이라고 강조했다. MIT 연구소에선 탄소 기반한 염료와 태양전지 셀을 사용한다. 이 셀은 1.5~2% 효율을 내고 있다.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--If things play out as hoped, these vials hold the seeds for future solar cells.

Inside are quantum dots, crystals that are only a few nanometers in size, made from carbon-based dyes. It's one of the avenues of research at the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center, which was officially dedicated on Tuesday.

Researchers are working at the molecular or quantum dot level, which allows them to fine-tune the light-absorption properties and band gap of the semiconductor materials, explained Vladimir Bulovic, the director of the center, during a tour on Tuesday.

Thin-film solar cells made from quantum dots have the potential to dramatically lower the cost of solar power and enhance traditional silicon solar panels. But it will take years before they become commercially viable. It typically takes 10 years between invention and commercialization and these technologies are still in their early years.


Already, scientists can generate light from quantum dots, but making a photovoltaic cell that can create a current of electricity is much harder. Here Bulovic shows a thin-film material that lights up in the presence of ultraviolet light.

The box on the table to the right is an example of an LED light made with similar technology.Array Lighting is releasing this year an LED with an Edison screw, which uses 80 percent less energy than comparable incandescent lights. The quality of the light is also comparable to incandescents, said Bulovic.


Massachusetts Institute of Technology mechanical engineering professor Alex Slocum shows off a prototype of a reflective trough designed and being tested at MIT.

Parabolic troughsare a mainstay of large-scale concentrating solar power systems, which concentrate sunlight to make heat or squeeze more electricity from photovoltaic solar cells.

The problem that troughs pose is that they accumulate dirt, which decreases their reflectivity, and they typically need to be placed on a terrain that is long and flat.

The prototype shown by Slocum, which is about one-tenth the scale of a commercial trough, is designed for low cost and modularity. The goal is to make it small enough so that auto industry parts can be used for the mechanisms that move the trough to follow the sun. Researchers also added a lip to the edge of the trough so that when heavy winds come, it will cause a vibration that will move the accumulated dirt, he explained.


MIT students in the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center watch a computer visualization of the texture of a nanomaterial. Seeing the physical surface of materials, such as quantum dots, provides clues for researchers seeking cheap solar cells. For example, this image shows that there is a definite structure to the specimen, which could indicate it can self-assemble into a desirable shape.


Another scene from the solar research lab. This is an experiment with placing 10 solar cells on an organic thin-film.


URL : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20004170-54.html

<출처> ZDNet Korea, 2010.05.06 外

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