'Hidden' PV cells from optical fibre

Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs.

Using zinc oxide nanostructures grown on optical fibres and coated with dye-sensitised solar cell materials, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US have developed a type of three-dimensional photovoltaic system.

The approach could allow photovoltaic (PV) systems to be hidden from traditional locations such as rooftops.

“Using this technology, we can make photovoltaic generators that are foldable, concealed and mobile,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering.

“Optical fibre could conduct sunlight into a building’s walls where the nanostructures would convert it to electricity. This is truly a three-dimensional solar cell.”

The work was sponsored by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the KAUST Global Research Partnership and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dye-sensitised solar cells use a photochemical system to generate electricity. They are inexpensive to manufacture, flexible and mechanically robust, but their trade-off for lower cost is conversion efficiency lower than that of silicon-based cells.

But using nanostructure arrays to increase the surface area available to convert light could help reduce the efficiency disadvantage, while giving architects and designers new options for incorporating PV into buildings, vehicles and even military equipment.

Fabrication of the new PV system begins with optical fibre of the type used by the telecommunications industry to transport data.

First, the researchers remove the cladding layer, then apply a conductive coating to the surface of the fibre before seeding the surface with zinc oxide. Next, they use established solution-based techniques to grow aligned zinc oxide nanowires around the fibre much like the bristles of a bottle brush.

The nanowires are then coated with the dye-sensitised materials that convert light to electricity.

Sunlight entering the fibre passes into the nanowires, where it interacts with the dye molecules to produce electrical current. A liquid electrolyte between the nanowires collects the electricity.

The result is a hybrid nanowire/optical-fibre system that can be up to six times as efficient as planar zinc oxide cells with the same surface area.

“In each reflection within the fibre, the light has the opportunity to interact with the nanostructures that are coated with the dye molecules,” Wang explained.

“You have multiple light reflections within the fibre, and multiple reflections within the nanostructures. These interactions increase the likelihood that the light will interact with the dye molecules and that increases the efficiency.”

Wang and his research team have reached an efficiency of 3.3% and hope to reach 7 to 8% after surface modification.

While lower than silicon solar cells, this efficiency would be useful for practical energy harvesting. If they can do that, the potentially lower cost of their approach could make it attractive for many applications.

By providing a larger area for gathering light, the technique would maximise the energy produced from strong sunlight, as well as generate respectable power levels even in weak light.

The light level entering the optical fibre could be increased by using lenses to focus the incoming light and the fibre-based solar cell has a very high saturation intensity, Wang said.

Wang believes this new structure will offer architects and product designers an alternative PV format for incorporating into other applications.

“This will really provide some new options for photovoltaic systems,” Wang said.

“We could eliminate the aesthetic issues of PV arrays on buildings. We can also envision PV systems for providing energy to parked vehicles and for charging mobile military equipment where traditional arrays aren’t practical or you wouldn’t want to use them.”

Wang and his research team have produced generators on optical fibre up to 20 cm long.

“The longer the better,” said Wang, “because the longer the light can travel along the fibre, the more bounces it will make and the more it will be absorbed.”

Traditional quartz optical fibre has been used so far, but Wang would like to use less expensive polymer fibre to reduce the cost. He is also considering other improvements, such as a better method for collecting the charges and a titanium oxide surface coating that could further boost efficiency.

Though it could be used for large PV systems, Wang doesn’t expect his solar cells to replace silicon devices in the near future. But he does believe they will broaden the potential applications for photovoltaic energy.

“This is a different way to gather power from the sun,” Wang said. “To meet our energy needs, we need all the approaches we can get.”