SIR M.

VISVESVARAYA
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Solar energy plays a major role in
present days.
It is renewable source of energy.
This presentation is about the new type
of solar cell.
It is 5 times efficient than conventional
solar cells.

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology is about building things atom by

atom, molecule by molecule.

Nanotechnology is billionth of a matter.

It is defined as the study of functional structures
with dimensions in the range of 1-100 nanometer.

WORKING OF SOLAR CELL

These are photovoltaic (PV) cells based on
crystalline silicon.
It absorbs visible sunlight and transferred to
the semiconductor material.
This energy knocks electrons to flow freely,
which results current.
Current is drawn from the metal contacts in PV
cell.

FIGURE SHOWING THE WORKING OF SOLAR CELL

WHY NANOTECHNOLOGY IN
SOLAR CELL
The conventional solar cells are less efficient.
Their efficiency is very poor in cloudy days.
To overcome above problems, A new type of solar cell
embedded with NANOTECHNOLOGY is developed,
which is INFRARED PLASTIC SOLAR CELL.

INFRARED PLASTIC SOLAR

CELL
A plastic solar cell can turn
the suns power into electric
energy even on a cloudy day.

It uses specially designed nano particles

called quantum dots.

QUANTUM DOT

The quantum dots with a polymer to make

the plastic that can detect energy in the
infrared.

QUANTUM DOT LAYER

WORKING OF PLASTIC SOLAR

CELL
It requires semiconductor
nanorods (7 nm by 60nm).

The heart of a solar cell

is a 200-nm-thick film.
It consists of cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanorods and
blended with P3HT(poly-3hexylthiophene).

 A layer only 200 nanometers

thick is sandwiched between
electrodes.
It can produce 0.7V at
present

Aluminium coating acts

as the back electrode .

When nanorods absorb light they generate an electron

and an electron hole.
Electron is collected by alluminium electrode.
The hole is transferred to the plastic and conveyed to
the electrode, creating a current.

IMPROVEMENTS
Better light collection and concentration
employed in the solar cells.
In plastic cells nano rods are closely
packed and transfer their electrons more
directly to the electrolyte.
They also hope to tune the nano rods to
absorb different colors to span the
spectrum of sun light.

APPLICATIONS

Hydrogen powered car:

Hydrogen car painted with the film could convert

solar energy into electricity to continually recharge
the cars battery

 Coating the cell :

Chip coated in the material
could power cell phone
A couple of drops if the
titanium dioxide suspension
is then added.
The slide is then set aside
to dry for one minute.

ADVANTAGES
These are considered to be 30% more
efficient.
Their efficiency is same even on cloudy
days.
These are very compact and more practical
in application.
These cells avoid effects like pollution.
These are flexible and have the capability to
turn suns power into a
clean,green,consistent source of energy

LIMITATIONS
They are very costly.
Relatively shorter life span when
continuously exposed to sunlight.
It requires higher maintenance and
constant monitoring.

CONCLUSION
Plastic solar cells help in exploiting
the infrared radiation.
More effective when compared to
conventional solar cells.
They can even work on cloudy days.
Though at present cost is a major
drawback, it can be solved in the
near future.

REFERENCES

1. Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties and

Applications: Edelstein, A. S., Cammarata
R. C., Eds.; Institute of Physics Publishing:
Bristol and Philadelphia, 1996.
2. The Coming Era of Nanotechnology; 1987.
Drexler, K. Eric, Doubleday; New York
3. A gentle introduction to the next big ideaMark A. Ratner, Daniel Ratner.
4. Introduction to nanotechnology- Charles P
Poole, Frank J Owens
5. The clean power revolution- Troy Helming