Lifespan of Plastic Solar Cells Increased to Eight Months

A research team from the National Institute for Nanotechnology and the University of Alberta has enhanced the operating life of a plastic solar cell that is unsealed to eight months from mere hours.

The efforts of the research team in developing a readily-available, cost-effective plastic solar cell technology were hindered due to the problem of chemical leeching within the prototype’s body. A chemical that was coated on an electrode was not stable and migrated across the cell’s circuitry.

This research team headed by David Rider, a chemistry researcher, has created a long lasting polymer coating meant for the electrode. In a solar power technology, electrodes play a key role in the extraction of electrical energy from the cell. Prior to this polymer coating development, the plastic solar cell of the research team had the ability of operating for only about ten hours at high capacity.

The research team has presented their research finding to the journal named ‘Advanced Functional Materials’. The team’s plastic solar cell performed for 500 hours at high capacity. The cell continued working for further seven months.