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| Exploring of game-changing solar technology BP and The California Institute of Technology have teamed up in a research program that could open the door to a radical new way of producing solar cells, making the cost of solar electricity more competitive and increasing current efficiency levels. The program was announced at the Photovoltaics Summit 2006 in San Diego. For an initial five year period, BP and Caltech will explore a concept based on growing silicon by creating arrays of nanorods rather than by casting ingots and cutting wafers, which is the current conventional way of producing solar cells. Nanorods are small cylinders of silicon that can be 100 times smaller than a human hair and would be tightly packed in an array like bristles in a brush. A solar cell based on an array of nanorods will be able to efficiently absorb light along the length of the rods by collecting the electricity generated by sunlight more efficiently than a conventional solar cell. The Caltech solar nanorod program will be directed by two scientists at Caltech, Dr. Nate Lewis and Dr. Harry Atwater. Dr. Lewis is the George L. Argyros Professor of Chemistry and is an expert in the areas of surface chemistry and photochemistry. Dr. Atwater is the Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science and is an expert in electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices. In addition, eight postdoctoral researchers and graduate students will work on the program. Lewis' group will investigate uses of nanotechnology to create designer solar cell materials, from nanorods to nanowires, in order to change the conventional paradigm for solar cell materials. Atwater's group will investigate approaches to create silicon-based single junction and compound semiconductor multijunction nanorod solar cells, using vapor deposition synthesis methods that are scaleable to very large areas. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |