12-07-2013, 04:13 PM
NANO SCIENCE IN SOLAR ENERGY
NANO SCIENCE.pptx (Size: 368.12 KB / Downloads: 53)
Introduction
The use of conventional energy sources led to global warming and also their depletion.
The photovoltaic (PV) cells that uses sunlight to generate clean electric power is a solution.
Solar cells are simply not efficient enough and are currently too expensive to manufacture for large-scale electricity generation
By using nanotechnology we can decrease cost of production and increase efficiency.
Photovoltaic cell
A photon from the Sun generates an electron-hole pair in a semiconductor. The electron is pulled to the front, the hole to the back of the solar cell, thereby creating a battery.
Factors Affecting Conversion Efficiency
Wavelength of Light
Natural Resistance
Temperature
Reflection
Electrical Resistance
Three generations of solar panels
These solar cells uses very high quality crystalline silicon.
These are expensive to manufacture, and have a fairly low theoretical efficiency limit of around 20%.
Quantum dot Solar cells
Quantum dots are particles of semi conductor material with the size so small.
This solar cell have many layers with different band gap in stack. each layer utilizes different wavelengths.
Light absorption of quantum dot layers are more
Nanotubes
In PV cells technology, the nanometer-scale tubes, coated by the special p-type and
n-type semiconductor (p/n) junction materials can be used to generate electrical current, which would increase the surface area available to produce electricity.
Conclusion
The production of solar energy, from the available sunlight, and its usage is more clean, safe and efficient. They are commercially available and are being utilized.
The new upcoming technologies in renewable resources like nanotechnology solar cells helps us to increase the efficiency