Materials
B
ecause of its remarkable
conductivity and structural properties, graphene could enable a step change in the overall effectiveness of thin film solar cell technology.
Dr Margherita Sepioni, research and technology officer, 2-DTech.
Dyesol produces solid-state dye- sensitised solar cells.
The company is part of Versarien, headquartered in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, UK, which produces advanced materials for a range of industry sectors. Partner Dyesol is an Australian clean-tech company developing cutting-edge, clean energy generation solutions. It was established in 2004 to commercialise a third generation photovoltaic nanotechnology
called dye solar cells (DSC) or dye sensitised solar cells (DSSC). Nigel Salter, 2-DTech’s managing director, says: “The UK Government has made a commitment to having 20GigaWatts of installed photovoltaic capacity by 2020. If this is to be achieved there needs to be a major advance in the photovoltaic technology being employed. The key to solar cell design lies in maximising charge collection and graphene could have a major part to play in this. With the financial backing of InnovateUK, 2-DTech will be able to evaluate its merits in this important application area.” The project to explore
this potential will take 12 months to complete. The potential of graphene is huge. At 200 times stronger than structural steel it is just one atom thick. Its potential has been theorised for years – in composites, energy generation and sensors, for example. However, research and development is all very well – making the ‘wonder material’ a commercial success is vital. And progress has been slow on that front. Dr Margherita Sepioni is 2-DTech’s
research and technology officer. She joined the company in 2012 having completed her PhD in the graphene Condensed Matter Group of Manchester. Her project focused on the magnetic properties of graphene laminates fabricated by chemical exfoliations. Over the past two years, she
developed and improved new graphene production methods. “Currently solid state dye sensitised solar cells cannot perform as well as crystalline cells in terms of their absorption of solar energy or its subsequent translation into electrical energy. Currently thin film solar cells offer power conversion efficiencies which are lower in comparison to crystalline alternatives,” says Dr Sepioni. “Because of its remarkable conductivity and structural properties,
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