Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement

‘Wavy’ solar cells could change the game

A new ‘wavy’ solar-cell design could drive down the cost and improve the efficiency of the technology.

Published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, researchers from the University of Sheffield and Power Roll revealed a new type of solar cell based on a surface embossed with ‘micro-grooves’.

They showed that by coating opposing walls of the micro-grooves with different electrical contacts, and then filling the groove with a solution-processable semiconductor, it was possible to create a new type of back contacted solar cell.

Researchers say the 3D design removes many of the manufacturing process steps required by existing photovoltaic (PV) modules and allows new materials to be used that would not usually be possible using regular solar cells.

Power Roll predicts that solar modules produced using this design will weigh only a fraction of an equivalent-power conventional solar module which could benefit less developed and off-grid areas of the world where it is not viable to transport heavy solar panels as well as a wide range of other applications.

Researchers said other benefits of Power Roll’s design include removal of expensive transparent conductive oxides, the use of simple and low-cost electrical interconnections and the ability to tune electrical output to match user requirements.

Dr Trevor McArdle, Senior Research Scientist at Power Roll said: ‘Over the last 40 years, the majority of solar cells have been based on a conventional flat structure, in which layers of different materials are deposited one upon another to create the solar cell.

‘However, we have developed a radically different architecture to make solar cells using a surface patterned by micro-grooves that individually are a fraction of the width of a human hair.’

In related news, research from California recently revealed that caffeine can make solar cells more efficient at converting light to electricity.

Thomas Barrett
Senior journalist - NewStart Follow him on Twitter
Help us break the news – share your information, opinion or analysis
Back to top