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Researchers from UFPR Developed Unique Method to Produce Organic Solar Panels. These New Solar Cells Promise Besides Many Advantages to Triple the Efficiency of New Solar Panels.
Outside the Polytechnic Center of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in the southern zone of Curitiba, green signs color the gray appearance of the three floors of the building. What many people do not know is that these are organic solar panels that constantly convert sunlight into electrical energy.
The use of organic solar cells, which contain carbon in their composition and are made of very thin and flexible plastics, for electricity production has been known for 35 years. However, the Nanostructured Devices Group (Dine) at UFPR discovered a new method to produce the so-called organic solar panels, using materials and processes that can triple efficiency in converting light into renewable energy compared to other materials.
UFPR Develops New Method for Producing Organic Solar Panels
It is worth noting that the discovery involving organic solar cells resulted in the 100th patent granted to the university by the National Institute of Industrial Property (Inpi), a federal agency responsible for granting intellectual property rights for industry.
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In the new technique discovered by the researchers, the film, composed of four layers printed in just a few minutes by a special printer, undergoes a reaction that makes it more stable and durable.
The discovery of new organic solar panels is currently in the laboratory phase. For example, in the windows of the Polytechnic Center at UFPR, there are plates made before this registration and printed by the only company that sells organic photovoltaic panels in the Americas, the Minas Gerais company Sunew.
Organic Solar Panels Offer Greater Simplicity, Flexibility, and Adaptability
The patent registration represents, according to the researchers of Dine, an advancement in relation to the two main disadvantages of currently known organic solar cells: durability and efficiency, which are still inferior to inorganic cells that do not contain carbon in their composition, such as water and mineral salts.
Only the discovery of new conductors can break these barriers. Currently, the most commonly known method of converting solar energy to electricity begins with the extraction of silicon, which is an inorganic cell found in rocks, clays, sands, and soils.
For the extraction to occur, industrial reduction of quartz generally takes place, which is placed in smelting furnaces connected to temperatures of up to 2,000 ºC. This production process, unlike the printers that print organic solar cells, generates more polluting CO2 emissions.
On the other hand, the use of organic solar cells has proven to be simpler, more flexible and adaptable, evaluates the PhD in physics from UFPR and member of Dine, Maiara de Jesus Bassi.
Advantages of Organic Solar Cells Compared to Traditional Ones
Unlike common panels, which are heavier and more rigid, organic solar panels can be placed on any type of surface. Each square meter weighs 100 grams and can be placed on highly anticipated locations, such as windows and ceilings, or attached to personal items like jackets.
According to Bassi, a researcher at Dine, the first positive impact of any photovoltaic cell is that they use solar energy, called clean energy. However, organic cells, compared to inorganic ones, are even more sustainable because they are simpler to produce, generating less waste to the environment.
The photovoltaic effect works based on a chemical process discovered in 1839 by the French physicist Alexandre Becquerel. At that time, he discovered that the sun, when shining on certain materials, triggers an electric current. However, the first inorganic solar cells were only developed in the 1950s.
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